Trial of the Heroes
by That Geek
Summary: When evil forces align in an attempt of Universal Domination, three heroes are forced together in the battle of their lives. Join Crash, Jak, and Spyro as they embark on their greatest adventure yet and learn what it truly means to be a hero. Crossover.
1. Prologue

_Smarty and the Geek proudly present their fifth Fanfiction: Trial of the Heroes. _

_Disclaimer: Smarty and the Geek do not own anything in here but the storyline. Crash Bandicoot is © to High Impact Games, Jak and Daxter are © to Nihilistic Software, and the Legend of Spyro is © to Sierra Entertainment. Just to clear things up, this is post-Twinsanity, post-Lost Frontier, and post-Dawn of the Dragon._

**Prologue**

The head from a mech flew towards Earth in a giant fireball. It was unlike anything any person had ever seen as it had a resemblance to the head of a jackal with something stuck in its head. It flew towards a small archipelago in the southern ocean nearby Australia. Its trajectory made it head straight towards the Northern most island in the archipelago. Two people stood on the balcony of a castle, looking at it while unaware of its trajectory.

"Uncle Neo, it's so pretty," the girl with a metallic lowercase n on her head said.

"Yes, Nina it is very nice," her uncle, a yellow skinned man with a much larger uppercase N on his head agreed. Cortex soon realized the trajectory of the "meteor" was making it head straight towards them. "Nina, get down!"

Cortex dove on his niece and they just barely missed being hit by the head. He looked down to investigate the crash and saw nothing but a wreck of a body in the "meteor". Cortex instructed two Lab Assistants to take the body up to the regrowth ray so that he may be able to tell what the thing was. After a treatment with the regrowth ray, the body took the shape of a tall man with very long, pointed ears, red hair, and (eerily) red eyes. He got up and hissed a threat to midair:

"I will get you Jak, if it's the last thing I do!"

"Who?" Cortex asked in confusion. The man turned to him with a snarl.

"Jak, the supposed Hero of my world." Cortex looked at him in surprise.

"What a coincidence, my nemesis is the hero of my world, Crash Bandicoot," he stated excitedly. The man regarded Cortex for a moment.

"Who are you?" he inquired with interest.

"Dr. Neo Cortex. And you?"

"Erol," the man stated coldly.

"So you want revenge on this Jak?" Erol nodded.

"And you want revenge on Crash?" Erol guessed.

"Yes." Erol's expression turned ugly.

"Why stop there? We should eliminate every hero in the universe." Cortex's eyes widened.

"How many are there?" Cortex asked nervously.

"Three as far as I know."

"Crash, Jak, and…" he paused, waiting for Erol to throw him a bone.

"Spyro, the Purple Dragon; a very powerful enemy according to the Dark Makers."

"His nemesis will want part in this too," Cortex said.

"Yes. This way, our revenge on the heroes will be complete _and_ we will have universal domination." Cortex's nervous attitude disappeared as soon as Erol said the word "domination".

"Our plan?" Erol tossed him a power crystal off the floor which Cortex caught quickly.

"Figure it out." An evil smile crept onto Cortex's face.

"Muahaha! Look out heroes, your greatest trial is yet to come."

**Trial of the Heroes**

1 year later

Crash Bandicoot topped a wave on his surfboard off the coast of his island home. He gave a cry of joy and did a handstand on the board then started spinning around very rapidly.

"Woo hoo! Go Crash!" cheered his sister from the shoreline. The large, burgundy furred bandicoot behind Crash snorted then crowed:

"Give it up Crash! I'm the better surfer." Crash stuck his tongue out in response.

They battled on their surfboards until the wave crashed into the beach Coco was sitting on. When he emerged from the water, Crunch was covered from head to toe in seaweed, making him look like a sea monster from a low-budget, 1960s horror film. Crash had landed farther up shore, his upper half completely stuck in the sand as his legs kicked the air comically. Coco started giggling at how ridiculous they looked until Crunch splashed her with water.

"Hey, don't get my computer wet," she shouted, drawing her legs around the little pink laptop. Crunch simply grinned and pulled Crash out of the sand where he was stuck.

"We haven't seen Cortex in some time. I wonder what he's planning," Coco said to keep the conversation going. She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I keep telling you. Cortex died in that meteor crash last year," he dismissed the idea easily. AkuAku shook from side to side as though he was shaking his head.

"I don't think so Crunch, I feel no absence of Cortex's presence on that island." Suddenly, a huge teleport gate appeared in front of them, trying to drag them into it.

"Great Aku, but could you tell us this a little before something like this happens," he groaned, thinking _"Here we go again"_.

"I had no idea this would happen," the mask defended. Before they could get away, the giant portal sucked them all into a world a trillion miles from their own, with its own set of dangers.


	2. Heroes Ally

**Act I:**

**Jak's World**

**Chapter 1:**

**Heroes Ally**

Jak stood on the balcony of the building, scouting the road below. Haven City had been torn apart by two wars since Jak had appeared there five years ago and a new one had just started. The members of the Old Krimzon Guard had separated from the New Krimzon Guard and were now fighting their former allies. Soon after, the KG Deathbots had joined the OKG in their battle. Then, the Rebels had let Metalheads into the city as their allies against the Freedom League. Jak had been a big part of the battle for the city, what with his previous record: he had saved the world four times and he was only 26 years old. He had fought the armies of so many different nations single-handedly; Gol and Maia's Lurkers, Baron Praxis' Old Krimzon Guard, the Metalheads, Errol's KG Deathbots, the Dark Makers, and Duke Skyheed's Aeropan Air Force. And now, Jak and Daxter were being called upon to save the city once more.

He had seen so many things in his life; from Ghost Pirates to his best friend being turned into a two foot tall, furry, orange Ottsel. But the things that he never thought to see were wormholes appearing in the skies. Several specks fell from the wormholes, five he counted. His communicator beeped and came out of his pocket, floating around his head.

"Jak, find the third form that fell. We think they may be from distant planets and were brought here for experimentation. I don't think this planet needs another Aeropan Air Force."

"I agree, Jak out." Jak slipped his Eco rifle from his back (his Morph gun and Gunstaff had been destroyed in the early days of the war) and followed the indicators on his map to find the form. He looked around the bend of an alley and quickly hid himself away.

"What is it?" Daxter asked.

"Lobsters," Jak hissed quietly. Jak's eyebrows raised in confusion as Daxter licked his lips.

"Oooh, yum." Jak sighed in exasperation as he realized Daxter thought he was talking about actual lobsters, forgetting that "Lobsters" was the codeword for OKGs.

"I mean OKGs you idiot." Daxter's ears flopped to the sides of his head in disappointment.

"Ohh. Well, let's kick their butts." He jumped back up, leaping from foot to foot and holding out his fists like a boxer. Jak rolled his eyes at his friend but had to admit to himself that the Ottsel had a point. He swiveled the barrel of the rifle around the corner until the little red dot was right smack in the middle of the back of an OKG's head. One shot later, the guard fell on its face. This alerted the others, Jak had to act fast. Jak turned a dial until the gun flashed blue, turned the barrel to the guards, and shot them all down with a spitfire of blue fireballs. He kicked a few of the bodies aside until he found a small form dressed in a white shirt, not the bright red armor of OKGs. Jak picked up the small form and found it to be a young, orange furred girl.

"Wow, they sure make Ottsels big where she comes from," he whispered into Jak's elongated, pointed ear.

"Dax, I don't think this is an Ottsel," he muttered back quietly. The girl groaned and opened her eyes slowly. They shot open and the girl began struggling to get out of Jak's arms. He let her go, allowing her to fall on the ground. She quickly got up and flattened herself against the alley wall.

"Wh-wh-who are you? Where am I?" Jak stepped forward, putting his hands out defensively.

"Hey, calm down. We're on your side."

"How can I trust you?" she growled, picking up a long, pointed stick from the nearest dumpster and pointing it at Jak like a spear.

"We can take you to the others who fell from the sky. Your family, I believe." Her ears perked up from where they had been flattened against her hair, her expression changing from a scowl to a curiously excited one.

"My family? Where are they?"

"They should be back at HQ; we can take you there."

"Okay, I'll come along." She threw her "spear" back into the dumpster from whence it came and followed the Demolition Duo out of the alleyway.

Jak, Daxter, and the girl (who identified herself as Coco) made their way to HQ via the congested back ways and alleys. Needless to say, it was a long way over mounds of trash and such. After only half an hour, Coco started lagging behind the Demolition Duo. Jak noticed this and stopped briefly, not turning around as he spoke.

"Keep up, this way still isn't safe," he called over to her.

"Well I'm tired. Isn't there a quicker way with less trash?" she moaned miserably.

"There is…" Jak started but was interrupted by an angered Coco.

"Then why…" She started asking in fury before Jak finished his thought.

"…if you don't mind being shot at, blown up, and/or killed in some other way." Coco shrank back slightly in fear.

"Oh, I don't mind going this way." Jak and Daxter smirked at each other. However, their moment's joke was interrupted by the appearance of several dozen OKGs, around twenty KG Deathbots, and two Blastbots. Coco hid behind Jak, peering around his broad back at the enemy warriors.

"Aghh, do something Jak!" Daxter screamed. Jak looked down at his Eco Rifle, it was nowhere near as powerful as his Morph Gun or Gunstaff and even further from being able to take out all those things. Just when he thought the three of them were all dead, a blast of gunfire from an airship destroyed the Blastbots, the blast from which destroyed all the other Deathbots. Then, a ball of electricity broke apart the guard formation, one from a Peacemaker rifle. The owner of said Peacemaker leapt down from the _Hellcat_ cruiser, followed by a brawny, dark furred Bandicoot.

"Hel-lo Cherries," the large, dark skinned man boomed.

"Sig!" they cheered in recognition of their friend.

"Crunch!" She ran into the large bandicoot, hugging him tightly.

"Well, it looks like you found your family," Jak observed. She shook her head.

"No, my brother's still missing."

"He's probably back at HQ with one of the others," he assured her comfortingly, leaping onto the turret of the _Hellcat_.

Back at HQ, Jak, Daxter, Sig, Coco, and Crunch met up with Torn and the black dragoness he had rescued from some other OKGs. She introduced herself as Cynder, she and her boyfriend Spyro were teleported in the same way as the Bandicoot family. Ironically enough, it seemed that Spyro was a hero like Crash was and, of course, so was Jak. Whoever had done this to them was after the heroes, for what reason was unknown. At that moment, a woman with red hair and a man with sleek blonde hair walked in.

"I lost my objective. It was an orange furred creature, like that girl over there except male." Coco's eyes started watering.

"And I lost my objective. He was a purple lizard type thing with red wings." Cynder hung her head. Daxter leaned in to whisper into Jak's ear.

"This entire thing sounding familiar to you too?"

"Too familiar." Unlike Daxter, Jak said this aloud.

"What was that?" Jak turned to the two previously unnoticed people in the room, a green old man and a young woman with blue hair.

"It's just like the way we arrived in Haven."

"Then, if it is so much like it, those two heroes will have been taken to the old Palace Prisons."

"But Jak, if they're there, do you think that whoever's behind all this will do…that?"

"I don't know, but if they are planning on it, then they just made themselves my prime target." Jak nodded to Ashelin who gave a returned nod of comprehension. She patted Coco's shoulder.

"Don't worry, we're gonna get your brother out of there," she indicated everyone around them, "all of us are."


	3. Prison Break

**Chapter 2:**

**The Rescue**

Two OKGs stood on either side of the main gate to the prison, each holding their Dark Eco Rifle across their chest. The old Industrial District of Haven City had become the Old Krimzon Guard's main territory. The New Krimzon Guard territory covered the Bazaar, the Canal District, and the Residential Area. The prison was deep inside the Industrial District, making it near impossible for any attempt to be made at a rescue. So since there really was no need for extra security, the two guards were not taking their job too seriously. They saw two female guards walking past and started wolf whistling and cat calling at them. While they were distracted, the large burgundy Bandicoot and the dreaded King of Spargus dropped down behind them, each taking one of the guards out. The two female OKGs took off their helmets to reveal that they were simply Ashelin and Kiera. Jak with Daxter on his shoulder, Coco, Cynder, and Jinx all emerged from an alleyway. Jinx stepped forward and placed an Eco Charge on the door, ushering everyone to stand far back. The bomb exploded, sending both doors straight off their hinges. The group regrouped and ran into the prison, fighting off the guards alerted by the explosion. Jak and Sig were at the forefront, Eco Rifle and Peacemaker lined up in a deadly forte. They broke into the main control room and quickly got rid of all the guards in there. Jak and Sig worked together to barricade the door, making sure that no guards could enter. Ashelin started typing into the computer and swore loudly when the computer rejected her password.

"Of course they would change it," she said, smacking herself in the forehead for being so stupid. Coco stepped forward, pulling out her pink laptop and setting it on the console. Ignoring Daxter's smart remarks about the color of said laptop, she plugged it in and started typing furiously. Kiera watched curiously as Coco did her work, watching the young Bandicoot's small hands dart expertly across the keys. Kiera was good with mechanics but when it came to computers she was at a complete loss. Suddenly, the computer's files became displayed across the gigantic screen, allowing Coco to switch from her little girly colored laptop to the gigantic monster computer. She continued working her computer magic, eventually finding the records of where Crash and Spyro were being held prisoner. The two groups split up, Jak, Daxter, Crunch, and Coco heading after Crash while Sig, Ashelin, Jinx, and Cynder headed after Spyro and Kiera stayed behind to offer support from the control room.

Jak's group made their way through the upper sections of the prison, suspiciously encountering no guards. The explanation for the lack of guards was made clear; there were enough security devices to make it near impossible to cross. Jak smirked and called in to Kiera, she could easily get rid of these devices. Unfortunately, Jak had no idea how in-adept Kiera was with computers; looks like they would have to do this the hard way. Jak and Daxter went first, leaping gracefully over the lasers of the security guns, doing a double jump followed by an aerial spin over the more powerful lasers, and dodging the swinging blades. Jak found a power box and started tearing it off the wall, finally managing to fling it across the room. All the security devices deactivated, allowing his comrades to simply run across the hall.

"Those moves were amazing! No wonder you've been counted as a hero." Jak smiled and was about to reply when Daxter beat him to the punch.

"Well sweetheart," he said, jumping off Jak's shoulder onto hers and swinging a lazy arm around her neck, "what would you expect after all the training I put this guy through? You know I could put you through a few exercises, I'd like to see those little glutes of yours working." Unfortunately for Daxter, Coco knew perfectly what he was talking about and punched the Ottsel straight onto the floor. Jak unsuccessfully hid his smirk from Daxter, earning a glare from his small friend. Daxter brushed himself off and leapt back onto Jak's shoulder, folding his arms grumpily. The group continued on, finally reaching a heavily locked door.

"Why'd that Jinx guy have to go with the other group?" Jak pushed forward and did something strange: he put his hand out like he was throwing something and sure enough a red ball of condensed energy came forth. He pulled out his gun and shot it, making the small ball explode into a cloud of red energy and blowing the door straight off its hinges. Jak walked forward with Daxter on his shoulder, leaving Coco and Crunch staring with open mouths. He smirked back at the two bandicoots, indicating them to follow him into the prison. Memories flooded Jak's mind, bringing back a haunting image that would most likely be there forever.

_The view spiraled down a long column until the scene of Jak strapped to a table with two men walking around him was revealed. Dark lightning arced into Jak's form from a sinister device on the end of the column, obviously causing the man much pain. The lightning stopped flowing, allowing Jak to rest back onto the table, completely unconscious. A flat female computer voice came from the air around._

_ "Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Subject status: unchanged." _

Jak's mind came back to the present where he saw a small orange form laying on a table much like the one Jak had been strapped to only it was made smaller for the smaller individual. Coco was heard gasping from behind Jak, waking the man up enough to grab her before she could run to her brother's side.

"Let go of me! Crash, wake up!" Crash stirred on the table, his eyes slowly opening. He tried to get up but the restraints held him back, he tried again, struggling until he finally gave up. Crash clenched his fists in fury, making Jak draw Coco back slightly further. She shouted for him again, this time infuriating the bandicoot to the edge. He let out a howl and crackled to life, breaking the cuffs as his form grew larger and stronger. The now demonic bandicoot stood on his hind legs, but with his arms stretching down almost to the floor. His fur had darkened, his nails elongated, and his eyes become smaller and colder. He now looked like his 10th Dimension counterpart: Evil Crash. The bandicoot's eyes focused in on Jak holding his sister back. His dark energy altered brain showed this man as an enemy, keeping his sister away from him. The more animalistic form of Crash charged forward, making Jak throw Coco back and get in a defensive stance. The man imagined all the things that angered him more than anything else and opened his eyes which had turned pure black. He now became the individual known as Dark Jak and caught the more evil looking Crash (let's call him Dark Crash) in his arms. The two dark heroes rolled around on the ground in a furious battle, both letting out animalistic howls. Coco screamed at them to stop, walking forward and grabbing Crash by the shoulders while he was on top. He leapt off Jak and pinned her to the floor, his smaller and darker eyes focusing in on his younger sister's sparkling green ones. She struggled to get her demonic brother off of her, shuddering as his hot breath got closer to her neck.

"Crash, stop it! Big Brother, it's me, your little sister!" Sister…that was a word that the darkened bandicoot's mind had forgotten; he stared down at the girl who identified herself as such. Suddenly, memories of another life flooded into his brain; a lighter version of him holding a younger version of the girl before him to his chest as she cried out all her worries. Another showed him and the darker furred bandicoot he could see further back watching as the girl now closer to the age she was now blow the flames on 13 candles on a birthday cake out of existence. Dark Crash pushed himself off of his lighter side's sister, transforming back into that lighter side as he did so. Crash stared down at his sister's terrified form, then allowing his eyes to settle back down on his now normal hands.

"C-Coco, what happened?" Crash said with a slight Australian accent, making Coco stare at her brother in wonder.

"Crash, you can talk?" she gasped.

"Yeah, I guess I can. I haven't talked in ten years, ever since I got zapped with the Cortex Vortex."

"Wow, whatever they did to you reactivated your ability to talk."

"What did they do to me anyway?" Jak walked towards the machine where one of the sinister devices came together to form a purple crystal at the end. He plucked the crystal off the end of the device, feeling the energy pulsing within.

"A Power Crystal?" She took it, making Crash hiss and edge away.

"Keep that thing away from me. When I was under its power I wanted to…to…kill you."

"It must have dark energy inside similar to Dark Eco."

"Watch out Jak, you're not the only tall, dark, and gruesome anymore." Jak glared at Daxter. "_What_?"

"Come on; let's meet up with the others." He led the now enlarged group out of the prison, turning to Crash as the orange bandicoot joined in with his step. "We're gonna have to get you some new clothes, that transformation kinda ruined your old ones." Crash grimaced as he attempted to hold his ripped pants up from falling. He shot Jak a death glare as the man chuckled.

Cynder, Ashelin, Sig, and Jinx made their way across a catwalk suspended over an endless pit of prison cells. Kiera's intelligence said that Spyro was in the generator room. Sig came to the front of the group, charging a large, electric blue ball of energy in the barrel. He kneeled down on one knee, aimed it at the group of OKGs in front of them and fired. The soldiers were blasted away in a blast of Eco energy, leaving a remaining survivor running to the door and smashing the control panel for the door. He turned around triumphantly, receiving his just reward: a blast in the chest from Jinx's Eco pistol. Ashelin stepped towards the door, pulling out her communicator.

"Kiera, can you open this door?"

"No, that OKG just obliterated the electronic control for the door." Upon hearing this, Jinx cracked his knuckles and tossed an Eco charge up and down in his hand.

"Looks like my expertise is needed; stand aside sweetheart," he smirked, placing the Eco charge on the door. Everyone ducked down as the pent up energy was released rapidly, blasting the thick door off its hinges. Jinx got up first, bowing gentlemanly for Cynder and Ashelin to go first. He smirked at Sig as the large black man waited for him.

"Ladies first, Chili Pepper." Sig pushed the smaller man through the door with the butt of his Peacemaker.

Waves of radiation from the flowing Elemental energy turned the generator room into a shimmering gray mass. The only easily distinguishable thing in the entire room was a large bright area some 10 feet above the main platform. A figure was chained up in the middle of the energy ball, a figure that Cynder easily recognized. The dragoness flew up to the energy ball, attempting to reach Spyro. Unfortunately, the waves of pure energy emanating from Spyro were too great for Cynder's body to withstand. All she was able to do was call his name desperately; managing to break the purple dragon's dazed state. His amethyst eyes met her stormy grey ones, a flash of recognition coming from the purple orbs.

"Cynder…help," he managed to croak out before his head hung limply. Cynder tried to reach him but kept getting repelled by the waves of energy.

"I can't, you have to break those bonds," she called through the drone of the radiating energy.

"This generator is sapping my powers, without them there is no way I can free myself." Cynder nodded and dove down to the generator but before she could land a blow, a column of energy knocked the shadowy dragoness back onto the platform below. Spyro watched as his love lay on the platform, unconscious from the flow of energy. His eyes flared white as a cloud of dark energy started to shroud his small form.

"So, this generator wants my energy…_**let's see how it likes a **__**different**__** type of energy!**_" Dark Spyro unleashed a flow of shadowy energy into the prongs of the generator below. Everything started shining brightly with the energy from the purple dragon as the generator started vibrating. Sig cottoned on with what was happening and picked up Cynder's limp form, carrying it out of harm's way. He then grabbed a dazed Jinx and Ashelin, pulling them out of the way of the imminent explosion. On cue, the generator cracked then exploded as the energy it collected from Spyro flew out in all directions, destroying everything. The platform disintegrated, sending the unfortunate four plummeting towards the platform below where they landed straight on the other party. Spyro (returned to normal) floated down gracefully and landed a few feet away from the groaning pile of bodies. He picked Cynder out and dragged her out from under Sig. The black dragoness groaned, her eyes fluttering open to allow her to look at Spyro. Her groan turned into a loving sigh as she rolled onto her feet and nuzzled Spyro affectionately. She pushed her head under Spyro's chin, rubbing it so his head was forced upwards.

"Oh Spyro, we're together again and this time without Sparx to bother us." A disgusted snort came from behind her, making Cynder groan. "Then again, I think I would rather have Sparx than Orangey over there." Daxter tapped his foot with a raised, furry eyebrow.

"You can call me Daxter or Orange Lightning, _not_ Orangey." Everyone got up dazedly, making Spyro raise his scaly eyebrows in surprise.

"I think I'd be very interested to know who these people are." Crash got up and stretched from where Coco had been knocked into him.

"That makes two of us, mate," he groaned, glaring at his little sister. Jak took out his communicator and called into Kiera.

"Kier, we got Crash and Spyro."

"That's great—whoa, what was that? Oh my god, Jak, you have to get over here and—Aaaahhhhhh!" Kiera's end started cracking over.

"Kiera, KIERA!" He turned to the others, unhinging his Eco rifle from his back. "Guys, Kiera's in trouble, we gotta get up there." Neither Crash nor Spyro knew who Kiera was but they had enough sense to understand that she was a friend and that they should save her. The two heroes nodded and followed Jak with everyone else following behind.

_Author's Note: Review or else Crash will go dark on you._


	4. Villains and Baddies

_Author's Note: Despite the fact that no one reviewed, I'm still updating because I haven't in a long time. This is supposed to be my masterpiece, the pinnacle of my Fanfiction creation so why aren't people reviewing. I thought I might at least get a "good job" for the crack Jak made in chapter 1. Oh well, here's chapter 3, Geek out._

**Chapter 3:**

**Minions and Baddies**

Everyone crammed into a service elevator heading for the control room. The control room was where the imperiled Kiera was and therefore was where they should be. Jak waited impatiently for the elevator to get up to the control room. It was a fast elevator but as they had been in the highest floors of the prison and the control room was in the bottom with all the other service facilities, therefore not fast enough for Jak. The doors opened as they reached the service level, allowing Jak to lead the way out, followed by Crash and Spyro and everyone else. Jak burst the doors down, immediately firing upon all the guards with blue fireballs from his gun. Crash dashed under Jak's legs and started spinning into the guards, knocking several off their feet. One pulled back his fist to retaliate but was immediately singed, along with all in the vicinity, by Spyro's raging fire breath. Spyro then followed Crash's lead by using his Electric Tornado move to knock several guards into the hard, metal ceiling. Soon enough, the raging power of all three heroes prevailed, allowing them to focus on Kiera who had a hand on her chest as she panted heavily. Her other hand clutched an Eco pistol with which she had defended herself from the guards.

"Thanks guys, those were some amazing moves," she panted out. The others watched as Jak went up to Kiera and pulled her in a quick embrace.

"Let's not tell Samos about this." Kiera nodded, knowing her father he'd probably forbid her from going on any more missions. The two suddenly noticed their closeness and took a step back from each other. The rest of the party entered the room; Sig kicking a trash can to take out his anger.

"Damn, I missed the action. You Dough Boys could've at least left a guard or two for old Sig." He leaned on his Peacemaker with a grin on his face. Crash smiled back at the large man.

"Mate, sucks for you because that…was…_epic_!" Coco rolled her eyes, exiting the room without anyone noticing. She leaned up against a wall outside, taking her long ponytail to stroke it softly. Crash was explaining the fight with excited gusto, wringing out every aspect for every detail it contained. She laughed quietly to herself, same old Crash despite the changes. Her reverie made it so she didn't notice the distinct thud of large feet against the floor as a large creature approached her.

"G'day gorgeous." Coco gasped, her scream quickly silenced by a thick hand over her mouth. She fought against the creature's grip until her lack of breath became too much and she passed out. One of the creature's hands traced her cheek as it licked its lips hungrily. "You're a doll Coco, you know that. All of us minions have wanted you and now since I caught you, you're gonna be mine." He quickly bound Coco's wrists behind her back and carried her towards the upper floors.

Meanwhile in the control room, Crash had just finished telling his story. He looked around and noticed that Coco was absent from the crowd of onlookers. She must have been bored and gone outside so she didn't have to listen to him. However, Coco was absent from there as well but a certain smell let Crash know exactly what had happened to her. It was a disgusting mix of wet dog, crocodile, and napalm; only one creature Crash knew had a smell even remotely close to that.

"Dingodile," he snarled, rushing up the stairs, following the smell.

Dingodile carried Coco's limp form towards a large prison zoomer floating near the roof of the prison. Two OKGs stood there with their Dark Eco rifles clutched to their chests, ready to escort the zoomer to wherever it was planned to go. As the large hybrid stopped by the zoomer, a hologram appeared on the roof in front of them. The large, bulbous head could belong to none other than Neo Cortex.

"Well done Dingodile, with Coco in our captivity Crash will have to follow us to the ends of any earth. And now with his enhanced Dark powers, he will be a great asset."

"Yeah, we got Coco so then we can lure Crash into the trap and he'll be captured and brainwashed. Then with his power, you'll easily defeat Jak and the now weakened Spyro. But sir, may I recommend my form of payment?"

"Yes Dingo?" Dingodile indicated Coco with a hungry look in his eyes.

"After we got Crash of course." Cortex nodded in approval, slightly exasperated by his minion's primitive desires.

"If you insist." Cortex's hologram shimmered into non-existence and the door to the prison zoomer opened. Dingodile was about to enter when the guards suddenly stiffened into battle positions, running towards whatever was behind them. He set Coco down on the roof and pulled out the nozzle of his modified flamethrower, pointing the weapon at the incoming threat.

Crash Bandicoot charged towards the incoming OKGs, unleashing a raging spin attack as they came into range. Both were knocked backwards into unconsciousness, allowing Crash to proceed towards Dingodile. Dingodile chuckled as he turned a certain dial and pulled the trigger. Instead of the fireball Crash had expected, out came a bomb-like ball of dark purple liquid. It exploded a few feet from Crash, making him dive backwards to avoid being disintegrated. Crash got up quickly and continued rushing Dingodile in a raged fit. Dingodile turned the dial to a different setting and this time unleashed several tendrils of electricity that engulfed Crash. However, it wasn't regular electricity; it was like the power that had turned him into Dark Crash. Dingodile chuckled, thinking he had won as Crash crouched down under the power of the Crystal Energy engulfing him. Crash's body changed, his fur darkening, his body enlarging, and his nails elongating; finally changing into Dark Crash. Dingodile turned off the flow of energy, a horrified and terrified expression coming across his face. Dark Crash lunged at Dingodile, taking him down in one sweep. The hybrid cowered as Dark Crash snarled and unleashed his own flow of Crystal Energy into Dingodile's large form. One sweep of Crash's claws punctured the large fuel tank on Dingodile's back, setting off the all too familiar alarm. Dark Crash grunted in confusion before the tank exploded, sending both him and Dingodile high into the air. Crash (now returned to normal) returned contact to the ground painfully, getting up to look around. Dingodile was now a blackened mass on the ground surrounded by destruction but it was his sister's form that Crash was looking for. Coco was still tied up and unconscious from when Dingodile had first taken her. Crash quickly undid the ropes hugging his sister's wrists and picked her up, looking thoughtfully at the prison zoomer.

Jak, Spyro, Cynder, Kiera, Sig, Crunch, Ashelin, and Jinx had all found their way to a balcony overlooking the street far below. They were worried about Crash and Coco, neither had returned to the control room so they had gone out to look for them. Now they were without two teammates and stuck on a balcony fifty floors up after several squadrons of guards chased them there.

"Well this is great, just great!" Jak rolled his eyes and pulled out a communicator.

"Hey, Torn…Torn? Why isn't this god damn thing working?" He banged the communicator on the edge of the balcony. The sudden explosion of the communications tower made Jak stop and look over his shoulder at it. Daxter smiled from Jak's shoulder.

"Does that answer your question?" Daxter earned himself a smack upside the head for his cheekiness. Suddenly, an OKG prison zoomer piloted by Crash and a still unconscious Coco pulled up next to the balcony.

"Hey, any of you guys need a ride?" Everyone on the balcony stepped gratefully into the unlocked prison area of the zoomer as it sped off towards headquarters.

_Author's Note: Short, I know but cut me some slack this story is very different from R+C: TFF or the SCT as it's got much more action. Act II is almost all fighting and though there are still about six chapters to go before that, be prepared. Geek out._


	5. The Situation Revealed

**Chapter 4:**

**The Situation Revealed**

Coco lay on a bed in the Freedom HQ with the back of her right hand laid on her temple. Her eyes fluttered open, the blur of colors and shapes around her focusing until she saw Crash looking down into her face. She gave a relieved sigh, it had all been a dream, they hadn't all been captured and Crash hadn't learned to talk…Crash talking, yeah right.

"G'day Sleeping Beauty," Crash said very audibly in the same Australian accent from her "dream".

"Oh no, so it wasn't a dream?" Crash shook his head.

"Nope, first we were sucked through these wormholes, and then I find myself being taken away by the men in red upon which you guys come and rescue me and Mr. Purple in the other room. During that, Dingodile comes and tries to take you away but I use my new Dark side to kick his butt and now here we are at Freedom HQ in scenic Haven City." Coco's head was swimming with everything relayed to her.

"So we can't go home?" Crash smiled sympathetically, rubbing one of her ears affectionately.

"No, but it's okay kid, we'll get out of here. Now I'm sorry to say this but I think Aku and I are agreed upon when we say you should stay in here." Coco's eyes flared and she snapped Crash's hand away.

"Crash, how many times have I proven I can take care of myself?" she growled at him. Crash snorted in response.

"Oh yeah, like in the prison when you went running off on your own and got captured by Dingodile?" Crash folded his arms and glared at his sister. She also folded her arms and pressed her back against the headboard of her bed.

"You know, if it wasn't for me you'd have given Cortex all the Crystals without a second thought!" she yelled from her place on the bed. Crash sighed and pulled Coco into an embrace.

"Hey, I know you _can_ take care of yourself for the most part but there are those times when you get into a fix that you just can't get yourself out of. I only say that you can't because I care about you, I don't want you to get hurt." Coco sighed, wrapping her small arms around Crash's waist. Her older brother picked her up and carried her out of the room into the large meeting room.

Back in the main briefing room, everyone was trading stories about their previous adventures. Jak told tales of Gol and Maia's Lurker army and the Precursor Robot. Daxter told his tale of his adventures fighting the Metal Bugs under the employment of Osmo while he worked for the Kridder Ridder Extermination Company. Jak then told of his work for the Underground fighting Baron Praxis' regime and the Metalhead invasion; then telling of the three way war between the Freedom League, the Metalheads, and the KG Deathbots. Finally he told of the Kras City racing championship and his fight alongside the dashing Captain Phoenix against the Aeropan Empire. Spyro told his story about his first adventure fighting against Cynder and her ape forces. Then he told of the Night of Eternal Darkness and Gaul the Ape King, finally telling of Malefor's release and his and Cynder's epic battle to reseal him in his tomb. Crash got his turn and told of his first epic journey across the islands to rescue his love, Tawna. Then he told of how Cortex tricked him into collecting the Crystals and only Coco's intervention saved the world. He then told of his and Coco's journey through time to save the Crystals from Cortex's minions. Then he told of the introduction of Crunch and him and Coco defeating him. Finally he told the final story of how he actually worked with Cortex to defeat the Evil Twins and everything that went in with that crazy story.

After everyone was done laughing about Crash's hilarious story, they went to being in serious business. Torn tried to find a plan of action but it turned out they hadn't got enough information to do anything.

"I'll admit it to you guys; we have no idea what they're doing." Everyone showed some sort of exasperation for Torn having not completely thought this through. Suddenly, a transmission started coming through the hologram port in the middle of the room. The hologram of Cortex's unmistakable, bulbous head appeared there, earning the attention of everyone in the room.

"Ah, the brave heroes allied to stop us," he chuckled softly.

"Us?" Cortex looked slightly surprised at Crash's sudden ability to speak but got over it quickly.

"Why yes, you wouldn't know him but I think Jak would be familiar with him." Cortex chuckled as his hologram shimmered away and was replaced by a very familiar one to Jak.

"Erol!" Erol laughed at Jak's outrage.

"Yes Eco Freak, I'm back and I've got friends. We will eliminate you all with the power of the Dark Forces: Dark Eco, Dark Element, and Crystal Energy. I underestimated your intuitive sense that would lead you to the Old Krimzon Guard Prison as the obvious place we were holding Crash and Spyro. Then, Crash was able to save his sister from Dingodile, meaning we couldn't recapture him and turn him into the perfect weapon against you and the weakened Spyro. I guess we also underestimated the power that Spyro possesses, or else he could never have destroyed the generator and freed himself. I underestimated many things, but no more, this time you will die, the forces of the Metalheads are already being transported to the Wumpa Islands and Spyro's homeworld. But don't even think of going back, the gate is being guarded by N. Tropy and the Eco in our atmosphere has given him some quite extraordinary powers so not even you Jak can beat him." Erol shimmered away, leaving everyone just staring at each other. Ashelin was the first to speak.

"Well it seems obvious what we have to do. Before any offensive attempts can be made, Crash and Spyro have to go back to their homeworlds and save them."

"Well how do they do that? Didn't you hear, this guy has Eco powers that not even Jak can stand up to; and he's the most talented Eco channeler in history." Ashelin sighed.

"We need something to beat him, but how do we do that?" Everyone looked around, pondering Ashelin's question. Suddenly, Jak started swaying slightly, his eyelids drooping until they finally shut and he collapsed onto the floor. Daxter leapt on top of Jak's unconscious form, slapping his face.

"Jak, Jak, JAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!"

Jak opened his eyes, his blurry surroundings becoming clear. It looked like he was in the Catacombs beneath Haven City going to the Planetary Defense Center. He got to his feet, looking at what looked like the Center itself. Instead of the trio of Ottsels that were the Precursors there was a shimmering white light shining from inside the spherical device. The familiar, booming voice that the Precursors used to disguise their rather unimpressive stature came from the portal.

"Jak, the world has need of you again. Your talents as an Eco channeler are the only thing that can allow you and your fellow heroes to save those other worlds."

"Yeah thanks, I think I already figured that out for myself so let's just get to the bottom of this and you tell me what I have to do," he said irritably.

"Alright, if you insist. In order to defeat the man known as Nefarious Tropy, you will need a weapon that empowers your channeling ability one thousand fold. Only one such weapon exists, it is known as the Eco Staff." A staff of Precursor metal broke through the ground at Jak's feet, allowing him to pick it up and feel it. "This staff allows you to lift objects too heavy for even the strongest, to launch projectiles of immense power, to power great cities with barely any effort on your part, and to heal yourself and others like none could ever do." The staff in Jak's hand gave a physical demonstration of each of the legendary powers the Precursor spoke of.

"Nice, where can I find it?" The staff suddenly disappeared from Jak's hand, everything disappeared. He was falling into nothing as the Precursor voice left him a cryptic message.

"The Eco Staff can be found at the Heart of Spargus, where light flows from the ground."

Jak jolted upright, sending Daxter flying off his chest and into a nearby waste basket. Daxter clambered out irritably, brushing himself off and glaring at Jak.

"You'd better know where we're going buster," he growled. Kiera spoke up in Jak's defense.

"Hey, he just fell unconscious; you can't really expect him to…" Jak interrupted her with the answer to Daxter's question.

"Guys," he looked around at Crash and Spyro before continuing, "We're going to Spargus."

_Author's Note: Review if you want more._


	6. Return to Spargus

_Author's Note: Thanks to Jonah-EN for reviewing, and I am male, thank you very much. But because he reviewed (though no one else did) I shall update, here it is; Geek out._

**Chapter 5:**

**Return to Spargus**

A Krimzon Guard Air Train flew over the desert separating Haven City from the city of outcasts, Spargus. The large, electric blue vehicle landed near an oasis outside Spargus, allowing its passengers to exit and walk into the city. Sig led the way to the gigantic door and banged on it with one large fist. A slot in the door opened, allowing two very familiar eyes to gaze upon the party of five.

"Hello Sig, and Newbie, and his rat, but who are these other two ankle-biters?" Crash and Spyro puffed up indignantly at being referred to as such.

"My name is Crash Bandicoot…and he's Spyro the Purple Dragon." Crash added Spyro as an after thought.

"And they're friends of ours, so let us in Kleiver." The large, round bellied man opened the garage door for them, allowing them to pass through the many vehicles parked inside. Crash stopped by the Gila Stomper and whistled slowly.

"Now I would love to get behind the wheel of that puppy," he said.

"In ya dreams, Fuzzball," Kleiver laughed, pushing Crash forward into the main city.

Jak led the way to the central market in Spargus, stopping once he reached the middle of the area of fruit carts. Crash stared around at them hungrily.

"You don't suppose any of those fruit carts have any Wumpa fruit do ya?" He smacked his lips at the thought of the sweet fruit.

"They're native to your world so I doubt it." Crash moaned, snapping his fingers irritably. Jak, meanwhile, was deciphering the message in his head.

"The Eco Staff can be found at the Heart of Spargus, where light flows from the ground. Where light flows from the ground…" He focused on the last bit of the message, scanning the area until he focused in on the Light Eco vent in the center of town. "Of course, where light flows from the ground, not actual light but Light Eco." He hurried forward, skidding to a halt beside the vent of flowing Eco. Crash and Spyro stopped beside him, looking at the vent as well. Crash's eyes went from Jak to the vent.

"So, what's the attraction?" Jak rolled his eyes.

"I'm trying to figure out how to get the Eco Staff from this vent." Crash's mouth formed a perfect circle as though he was saying "Ohh".

"Well, you could always try breaking it," he smiled weakly. Jak ignored this and focused more on the side of the vent, it seemed as though there was some kind of writing on it. Yes, there was and it read: "Darkness is the key". Jak looked at it in confusion, "Darkness is the key", that sounds like some sort of thing Erol would have for his slogan.

"Darkness is the key?" he pondered aloud.

"Darkness is the key? That sounds like something Erol would have for his slogan." Jak smiled, there was a reason he and Daxter got along so well.

"Well, maybe if we came back when it was dark then it would appear," he added in weakly, earning "Really?" looks from Jak and Spyro.

"I think it means that if Jak uses his Dark Eco abilities on the Light Eco vent, then maybe that would unlock whatever container holds the Staff." Jak smiled at the Purple Dragon.

"Spyro, you're a genius." He turned to Daxter on his shoulder. "Dax, I'm gonna need you to piss me off." Daxter raised his eyebrows in confusion but shrugged, leapt on Jak's head, undid his trousers, and peed on Jak's greenish hair. It worked, Jak's eyes flared dark. "Daxter you idiot I said piss me off, _**not piss **__**on**__** me!**_" Jak leapt up and did his Dark Bomb maneuver, engulfing the central area of Spargus in a cloud of Dark Energy. That seemed to do the trick, as Jak turned to his normal self a pillar of rock ascended from where the vent had once been. More writing was on the pillar which Jak read closely before falling over comically.

"The key to this pillar can be found in the temple by the sea? Oh my freaking god, here we go again." Jak seemed to be in a rather dazed state as he said this. A few slaps to the face from Daxter quickly put him back in "Jak mode" so he could get back into the adventure. He felt the keyhole, memorizing the shape of the key they were looking for. Jak nodded and turned to Kleiver, who had been watching the scene with an amused look on his face.

"Kleiver, I need wheels to get me to this 'temple by the sea'." Kleiver nodded.

"Your old friend the Sand Shark should get you there just fine." Jak thanked him.

Crash: "Alright guys, let's roll." Before he could take two steps, Jak's hand was in his face to prevent him from leaving.

"Whoa, I don't know why but I've got this feeling I have to do this alone. We're going to need reinforcements for the upcoming battle, why don't you go to Kras City and talk to my friend Rayn; she can set us up with some vehicles and reinforcements." Crash looked put out about not going to the temple but nodded and followed Jak to the garage with Spyro in tow.

In the garage, Jak climbed into the sleek bodied Sand Shark and prepped it for the long journey to the temple. He pointed towards the Javelin X parked in the corner of the building.

"Take that Javelin X; I used it to win the Kras City racing championship. It should serve you well if you get into a heap of trouble with the local gangsters and Coco told me you're a pretty good driver so I shouldn't have to direct you on how to handle her." Crash smiled as he took hold of the aircraft like wheel of the Javelin X.

"Ooh, Crashy like. Crashy really, really like, no problemo she's in good hands." Spyro leapt onto the back of the car and clung to it so that he wasn't left in the dirt as Crash sped away towards Kras City. Jak smiled and hit the gas of the Sand Shark to speed off in the direction of the temple.


	7. Kras City Recruitment

**Chapter 6:**

**Kras City Recruitment**

The Javelin X pulled up next to a rather dirty looking bar named _The Bloody Hook_. Jak had told Crash and Spyro that this was where they could find Razer, someone who could take them to Rayn. Crash walked up to the bar, leapt onto a stool and leaned coolly against the bar. The bald bartender walked up to Crash while wiping a greasy glass with a dirty rag.

"What do ya want?" he asked gruffly, eyeing the bandicoot suspiciously.

"I'm not interested in drinking," he flinched slightly when his eyes alighted on the dirty cup which was getting steadily dirtier, "I'm looking for a guy by the name of Razer." Suddenly, a switchblade flew past the bandicoot's arm and stuck in the bar. He turned around to see a man in a blood red trench coat smoking a cigarette. The man (obviously Razer) blew a puff of smoke into the already smoggy atmosphere of the bar.

"So, you are searching for me?" he asked in a thick German accent, tapping the ash off the end of his cigarette before taking another drag.

"Yeah, that's right. I want to talk to your boss, Rayn." Razer walked towards the bar and jammed his forefinger into Crash's furry chest.

"Why would I let you talk to my boss? You're just a little small fry fur ball." Crash puffed up indignantly.

"I am more than worthy to talk to your boss and I'll prove it too." He and Razer were both nose to nose.

"You want to bet, on a race?" he challenged. Crash's mouth formed a huge smile.

"You're on." His smile was matched by Razer's scowl.

The Javelin X was lined up next to Razer's Street Grinder. Crash smiled over at the scowling Razer, wiggling his eyebrows annoyingly. Razer swiped the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it to the ground, glaring at the smirking bandicoot. Crash held out a hand to him.

"Hey, may the best bandicoot win," he chuckled, earning a furious growl from Razer. A brown haired girl with a checkered flag bounced on the balls of her feet as she held the flag up.

"Ready…" Razer gripped the steering wheel and started rubbing the leather under his hands. "Set…" Crash smirked and set his own hands on the steering wheel coolly. "GO!" Both man and bandicoot slammed the pedal to the metal and sped past the girl, causing her to spin around in the slipstream. Razer easily pulled ahead with a Blue Eco turbo boost, laughing mockingly over the radio connection. Crash never lost his cool and simply turned to run into one of the Yellow Eco canisters strategically placed on the racetrack. He watched as the yellow meter on his dashboard filled up, indicating that his forward weapons were fully charged. A barrage of bullets from Crash's guns made Razer's rear bumper resemble chrome colored Swiss cheese. He pushed a lever on the steering wheel so that the guns aimed further up on the car, damaging the Red Eco rear weapon launcher. The minimal amount of Red Eco inside reacted with the Yellow Eco from Crash's guns with rather explosive results. It didn't demolish the car like Crash wanted but it was effective to slow it down so that Crash could take the lead. Crash picked up a turbo boost, not that he needed it but it couldn't hurt. It did its job, giving Crash a significant lead over Razer. He then heard a sound Jak had told him to dread, the unmistakable sound of a Peacemaker being launched towards him. However, Jak had told him of a good trick to avoid the near unavoidable Peacemaker and slammed on the brakes. It worked as Razer sped in front of Crash, forgetting that now he was the target of his own weapon. Razer's car was turned into a heap of scrap on the track, meaning he was immediately disqualified. Crash walked out of his car, standing gloatingly by the wrecked car.

"Well?" he smirked. Razer glowered at the bandicoot hero and nodded irritably.

Razer led Crash and Spyro into a large penthouse apartment full of expensive artifacts and cruel looking weapons. As Crash and Spyro paused to look at a wickedly curved sword of Precursor metal, Razer walked forward into the shadows of a bedroom to speak to the mysterious Rayn. He came back out followed by a slender woman with chopsticks stuck in her short, blue hair.

"Hello, my name is Rayn Krew, the 'big cheese' for the gangsters around here," she introduced. Crash took the hand she offered him and kissed it in a gentlemanly way.

"G'day Ms. Krew, my name is Crash Bandicoot, a friend of a man by the name of Jak Mar," he returned.

"And I'm Spyro," he interjected, "another friend."

"You are friends of Jak's?" she asked in surprise. "I-I never thought he'd ever want to talk to me again after how I betrayed him and his friends."

"Well, he's definitely forgiven you enough to the point where he told us to get to you and ask for your help in our fight," he assured.

"We need the help of your resources to combat the forces at work attacking our worlds," Spyro added. Rayn nodded.

"I wish for nothing more than to be trusted again, I shall provide you with the resources you need," she assured them. "Actually, I think now would be a good time to give you something." She smiled at Crash before turning to a drawer, pulling it out, and throwing a bundle at Crash. "You're clothes look a little worn out; here are some new clothes with a little more protection." Crash opened the bundle to reveal tough, indigo jeans, and Precursor metal elbow and knee pads and armored boots.

"Thanks," he said gratefully as he slipped into one of the bathrooms to change. He came back out, looking very proud of his new attire and nodded to Spyro and Rayn. "Let's get back to Spargus and wait for Jak there then go back to Haven once he comes back." They followed him out to the Javelin X and drove away into the desert back to Spargus.


	8. Trial of the Temple

**Chapter: 7**

**The Trials of the Temple**

Jak turned the Sand Shark into a sliding stop outside an ancient, sandstone building in the desert. He pulled the goggles off of his eyes and slipped his kerchief down to its place around his neck as he regarded the building. The sand puffed up as his thick boots collided with the powdered ground. Daxter looked around the antechamber nervously once Jak had entered the temple, his eyes alighting on graphic carvings of men being attacked by Metalheads.

"I got a _bad_ feeling about this, Jak," he shuddered. Jak smirked at his furry friend obnoxiously.

"Come on Dax, where's your sense of adventure?" he chuckled.

"I think I left it back in the car, let's go back and get it." Jak chuckled and continued walking further into the temple. Once they were deep enough, the two friends could see a familiar symbol, looking somewhat like the Taoist Yin and Yang symbol.

"Well-well, looks like I was here as well," he chuckled, pulling out a pendant on a chain with the same symbol as the door from under his shirt. He dangled the symbol in front of the door, upon which a beam of light shot out of it and into the door, making the door open. Jak placed the pendant back under his shirt, slung his Eco Rifle off his back and walked forward into the hallway.

A flight of stairs led down deep into the earth, the end indistinguishable because of the sheer distance. Jak took a step down one stair, almost tripping because he had underestimated exactly how steep each step was.

"This is gonna be a nightmare coming back up, glad I don't have to do it," he smiled, his sense of humor evidently returned once the creepy hieroglyphs were not visible. Jak scowled, and began walking down the stairs slowly. Suddenly, flying bat-like Metalheads came out of cracks in the wall and started swooping at Jak and Daxter. Jak fired a yellow blast at one, successfully killing it and enraging the others. He delivered a punch to another as it swooped at him with sharp talons and swept away its remaining companions by using his gun like a club. The dead Metalheads splayed across the floor in awkward positions; Jak stepped forward and continued his descent into the temple with his gun held at the ready for more Metalheads. More did come, from the tiny little bat-like ones to ape-like creatures larger than Jak was. Of course, Jak defeated them all but not without injury. His left arm was badly scratched as were his legs and torso. He finally came to a flat space after almost an hour of walking/fighting down the stairs. It was a large room like the antechamber only with a higher ceiling and it was circular. Platforms stuck from the sides of the room at different intervals, creating a sort of far-spaced stairway climbing up to the ceiling. Near the ceiling was a large doorway leading further inside the temple, it was clear that Jak's jumping skills were needed now. Jak easily leapt onto the first platform, grabbed a horizontal pole halfway between it and the next, swung around a couple times, and leapt to the second. The next few were easily accessed by jumping, and a Yellow Eco vent near the end of the next allowed him to fly up to a higher placed one. The last few platforms were reached through a series of pole jumps until he reached the highest platform suspended in the center of the room. In the middle was a huge, circular platform of Precursor metal. The lighting symbol in the middle hailed something Jak hadn't seen in a long time.

"A Blue Eco Jump platform," he said in wonder. Jak stepped onto the platform, charging as much Blue Eco as he could. It started to glow, spikes of light cutting into the air around Jak. He crouched and then let off a huge leap that sent him straight to a platform right outside the doorway. It was a long slide going down to somewhere, Jak wasn't sure. He leapt on and slid in a crouching position, dodging the Dark Eco along the way.

At the bottom of the slide was a spherical room full of dancing lights. A domed ceiling reflected the white and purple lights given off by two pools of liquid. The floor was a huge representation of the symbol of the House of Mar, with pools of Light and Dark Eco in the tear drop shaped sides and a walkway curving between the pools. The two circles in the large end of each tear drop were columns that twisted towards a space in the center where a platform was. A circular platform in the center of the floor proved to be an elevator once Jak stepped on it and carried him up to the platform. Above him on the platform was the key, floating in a cloud of mixed Dark and Light Eco. Jak grabbed it like he would often do with Power Cells in his first adventure while Daxter did his familiar dance. Once the key was no longer attracting the Eco Energy, twin beams of Light and Dark sailed to the circles in a Mar Symbol above the door, effectively opening the door and allowing an elevator to become visible. Jak and Daxter were about to enter the elevator when something came in their way, dropping down the shaft onto the elevator. A blur of yellow and red snatched the key from Jak and sped back to the elevator, revealed at last to be Cortex on his Rocket Board.

"Ha-ha!" he exclaimed gleefully. "You will never get the Eco Staff, Jak; we villains will be victorious!" Cortex could easily dodge the bullets Jak tried to fire at him so instead; Jak pointed the gun up at the rope holding the elevator up and shot it. The elevator fell with a crash onto a bar just after Cortex had managed to fly out. He shook his fist at Jak, and then flew through the cavern along the rail. Jak took his Jet Board from his back and used it to slide along the rail. It only took Jak a moment to realize that Cortex's Rocket Board could only float a certain distance above the ground and so he needed to stay above the rail or fall into the depths below. Jak couldn't shoot Cortex, he needed to use his arms for balance, but he could still catch up to him and grab the key. Once Jak was only a few feet from Cortex, he turned to Daxter and shouted to him.

"Dax, get that key!" Daxter mock saluted him and leapt onto the tail of Cortex's board, crawling forward and leaping onto his head. Cortex only just registered that Daxter was on his head before the small Ottsel grabbed at the key.

"Let go, that's mine!" he shouted, tugging the key away from the Ottsel. It worked but as he wrenched it away, he lost his balance. As Cortex fell off his board and attempted to grab on again, he let go of the key and Daxter grabbed it. He cackled teasingly and leapt back onto the Jak, sticking his tongue out at Cortex as the man just managed to scramble back onto his board.

"Sorry Fat-head, ya snooze ya lose!" he cackled, giving Jak a high-five on the other side of the room.

"Darn you, we will still win though, you have no idea what's in store!" he swore as he pressed a button on his wrist and transported away without his board.

"That ain't what your fat mama said!" Daxter shouted to thin air.

"Come on," he said, faintly amused. "We have to find a way out of here." He proceeded down the short passageway beyond where their fight with Cortex had taken place until they reached a dead end. Jak inspected the walls and saw that the furthest one had cracks in it. He used his Red Eco Amplifier power to blast the wall apart, causing a cascade of sand to fall and reveal dazzling sunlight. Shielding his eyes, Jak proceeded forward and found himself in the desert, not too far from the Sand Shark.

"That's convenient," he smirked. Jak laughed with him as he climbed into the car and drove back to Spargus.

_Author's Note: Last two chapters of Act I come up after you guys review; Geek out._


	9. Ready for Battle

_Author's Note: I'm here because I was afraid Jonah-EN would come to my house and kill me if I didn't update. You can all thank him later, now you read the final two chapters of Trial of the Heroes Act I. Geek out._

**Chapter 8:**

**Ready for Battle**

Jak's Sand Shark sped over the dunes towards Spargus City, transporting our triumphant heroes along the road of this great adventure. Jak and Daxter yelled in greeting as they saw Crash and Spyro riding in the Javelin X with smiles proclaiming victory in Kras City. The heroes rode into the Spargus garage, dismounted their vehicles, and ran through the city streets towards the pillar in the middle of the central square. They forced their way through the crowd which had gathered around until they stood beside it with Sig and Kleiver by their side.

"This where that staff is?" he inquired. Jak nodded, too excited to speak as he looked at the container holding the key to victory in Haven City. He inserted the key into the hole and turned. A burst of colored light issued forth from the pillar, blinding and dazzling all who looked at it. Four beams of colored light (green, yellow, blue, and red) began to circle around and through Jak. When the blue streak entered Jak first, he felt a rush of excitement; he wanted to run and jump to release all this pent-up energy. As the red entered him, Jak felt strength and power flood through him; he could lift anything or beat any enemy with this power. Once the beam of yellow energy hit, there was a flow of sheer energy flowing through Jak; so powerful that he could feel it burning his hands to be released. And finally he was hit with the green, upon which a sudden calm and peace entered him; it healed his injuries from the recent trials he went through to obtain this great sensation. At once, the four beams merged into a white light shining straight through Jak's body. He rose and became the ghostly, winged entity known as Light Jak. All of the lights sank into Jak and as his feet hit the ground, Jak returned to his normal self, looking rejuvenated and hopeful.

"This is the power the Precursors talked of in that dream-thingy I had," he said in awe, examining one of his large hands.

"Jak, lookie there!" he shouted, pointing to where the pillar had been. Jak turned to look at whatever Crash was pointing at and punched the air triumphantly as he recognized the Eco Staff from his dream. He grasped the staff with one hand and plucked it from its perch where the pillar had once been. A beam of white light shot through the staff as Jak seized it, recognizing its new master.

"Guys," he began, turning to Crash and Spyro, "let's head back. I'm itching to kick that N. Tropy guy's butt."

_Haven City: Freedom HQ_

The electric blue Krimzon Guard transport vehicle flew over the security wall separating Haven City from the harsh desert and dangerous coast on its outskirts. It landed on the edge of the large bridge connecting the two halves of the Coastal District just outside the Industrial District. Jak, Crash, Spyro, and Daxter all exited the transport vehicle and made their way to Daxter's bar, the _Naughty Ottsel_ which was still acting as the Freedom League's Coastal HQ. They walked in and saw Torn, the NKG General, standing before a holographic image of the city showing the controlled areas as different colors (NKG: blue; OKG: red).

"Good thing you're back Jak, an OKG strike force is trying to make its way to HQ. They've got Blast Bots so deal with those first then worry about the Lobsters." Daxter mock saluted Torn.

"Aye-aye Captain," he smirked. Torn growled then turned to Jak.

"You couldn't have locked him up somewhere?" he growled, annoyed.

"Come on, let's deal with these Blast Bots," he said, waving for Crash and Spyro to follow. Crash was about to follow Spyro out of the doorway when a small voice shouted: "Wait!" Crash turned to see the small female Ottsel he knew to be named Tess.

"Crash, Coco found your old Wumpa Bazooka and gave it to me so I could add a few things." She handed the modified weapon to Crash which the bandicoot took up to inspect. A dial had been added which was split into four color sections: orange-yellow, blue-green, red, and lime-green.

"Thanks Tess," he said, walking out after Jak and Spyro.

When Crash ran outside, he saw several blue-armored NKG members holding off their red counterparts in the OKG. He scanned the battlefield until he found Jak and Spyro attempting to take down a gigantic KG Death-Bot tottering towards HQ on four legs. Jak charged the Eco Staff with Red Eco and smacked it against the main body of the Blast Bot. It turned and attempted to shoot him with its machine gun, opening fire upon empty space as Jak rolled out of the way. Spyro flew above the Blast Bot, raining down a fire of Earth Shot breath onto it. The Bot's legs buckled and finally it exploded in a great fireball. Crash heard the sound of the hydraulic pistons which drove the Blast Bot behind him, turned, and was faced with yet another Blast Bot. He leapt out of the way of its machine gun fire and pointed his Wumpa Bazooka at it. The fruit hit the armored robot with a *splat*, doing absolutely no damage.

"Okay buddy, take this!" he shouted, turning the dial to the blue-green portion. The nozzle of the bazooka expanded to allow the new ammunition to be fired. Crash fired the bazooka and instead of the usual Wumpa fruit speeding out; a beaker of Dr. N. Brio's explosive formula fired out of the end, colliding with the Bot's armor with a bang. The beaker yielded just as much effect as the Wumpa fruit, time to up the ante. Crash turned the dial to the red, upon which the nozzle expanded again to become more box-shaped. When the trigger was pulled, an actual TNT Crate fired out the end and stuck to the Death-Bot. It counted down with the familiar beeping noise then exploded against the armored hull. The weapon had finally yielded some damage to the robot but not enough to finish it, maybe the last ammunition could. With a final turn to the lime-green and no change in the nozzle, Crash pulled the trigger and fired a Nitro Crate at the Blast Bot. With a sound like shattering glass, the crate exploded and tore at the exposed mechanics the TNT Crate had revealed. As with the other, the robot's knees buckled and it exploded in a great fireball which Crash only barely dodged. Crash looked over at Jak and Spyro to see each finishing off another Blast Bot, ending the attempted attack upon the _Naughty Ottsel_. The NKG members cheered along with the heroes at the victory. Jak beckoned Crash and Spyro to follow him into a zoomer he had "borrowed" from a civilian. They flew through the Industrial District, running past the beast's den while it was licking its wounds to put it figuratively. The zoomer ride carried them into the Bazaar District, through the canals and to a tall building in the center of the district, Freedom HQ. They rode up the elevator and found themselves in a room full of people. Ashelin turned to Jak, spotted the Eco Staff, and nodded.

"Great, with the Eco Staff, you can beat N. Tropy and the attacks on Haven will stop seeing as the group we have labeled as The Villains are focused elsewhere." Jak nodded in understanding.

"You point me to where he is, and I'll kick his butt," he smiled.

"We have pinpointed his location using the Eco disturbances to the top of the rebuilt palace," she said. Jak nodded again and turned to the exit.

"Jak!" she called after him. He turned to look at her. "Be careful." Jak smiled.

"Don't I always?" he laughed, turning back to the exit.


	10. Jak's Trial

**Chapter 9:**

**Jak's Trial**

Jak rode up the service elevator to the top of the newly reconstructed Haven Palace. He clutched the Eco Staff in hand like he had done with his Gunstaff, a serious expression on his face. Daxter was nervously kneading Jak's shoulder with his short (but sharp) claws.

"Stop it Dax," he growled.

"Stop what?" he asked with genuine confusion.

"That kneading thing, if I wanted an acupuncture I would have asked for one," Jak growled. Daxter cringed from the look he was being given.

"It's not my fault; I don't realize I'm doing it!" Jak simply rolled his eyes and focused back on the door. The elevator stopped with a jolt and the doors slid open to reveal the treacherous path to the main tower of the palace which had become (if it was possible) even more treacherous. Jak grinned at Daxter, wagging his eyebrows excitedly at the prospect of the challenge. He ignored Daxter's protests and charged into the danger. About five feet into the bridge, it was covered in spikes. Our hero snorted and used his Eco Amplifier to blast apart the spikes that got in his way. Beyond the spikes were feet upon feet of those electrically charged platforms that shock you if you try to walk on them or jump over them. However, this time, there were no convenient platforms on the side of the bridge, just an exposed steel girder. There was also a tiny ledge in-between the platforms and the main bridge, this gave Jak an idea. He slung the Eco Staff in his back holster, slipped his fingers into that tiny ledge, and placed his feet on the girder. Jak edged along, careful not to touch the platforms, but sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are. You know what they say: "#&$ happens".

"OUCH!" he cried as his fingers just brushed against a platform and let go of the ledge. He toppled down, just managing to hook his fingers around the girder he had used to step on. Daxter also found himself a good spot to hang on: Jak's foot.

"Well this is great, _just great_!" he shouted from his precarious perch.

"Calm down Dax, I'll think something up," he assured, already racking his brain for an idea. Then it hit him, one of his Light abilities was the ability to fly, well more like glide but still. He could make his way to that pole sticking out of the side of the bridge. Jak started swinging the leg that Daxter was clinging onto despite his many protests, built up momentum in it, and kicked Daxter off his foot onto a safe portion of bridge. Daxter crawled to the edge to look at Jak just as the latter let go, dropping into the mist below.

"JAK!" he cried, looking around desperately for his friend. Several moments passed without a sighting of Jak until something ghostly white flew out. Light Jak flapped his gigantic wings once to fly up to a pipe sticking out of the bridge. Swung around it a couple of times, leapt off, and stuck his landing on the bridge in front of Daxter. Daxter pulled out a scorecard with a large number 10 on it as Jak bowed.

"Alright, let's go," he said. Daxter put his scorecard back into a pocket of his pants and leapt onto Jak's shoulder. The rest of the bridge was luckily just normal bridge with a few turrets, easily dodged.

The top of the palace had been replaced with a large, cylindrical building which Crash and Coco had told him was called a Warp Room. Jak walked up the steps to the entrance, stopping abruptly as a blinding white light covered the entire area. When he brought his hand away from his eyes to look, a tall man had appeared. He had blue skin (which Daxter was quick to notice and comment about) copper colored armor, clocks in his robotic wrist and stomach, and a large tuning fork for a weapon. This man could only be Nefarious Tropy.

"So, this is the great hero, Jak," he sneered in his British accent.

"Yeah, he is, so back off or be overcome by his powers!" he shouted annoyingly. Tropy growled.

"I have better things to do than talk to a filthy rat." He swiped his tuning fork so that a Yellow Eco blast shot towards Jak. Jak ducked down quickly and got up, pissed now.

"You're not getting away with this," he swore, swinging his Eco Staff off of his back. N. Tropy began laughing, first quietly, then maniacally. He sent arcs of Blue Eco which lifted Jak and sent him onto a circular platform of Precursor metal. N. Tropy leapt and landed in the center of the platform. He slammed the spiked end of his tuning fork on the central part, upon which it activated, floated away from the palace, and began rotating slowly (N. Tropy's central platform stayed stationary). A cylindrical shield of Dark Eco separated N. Tropy from Jak, making it so that none of Jak's attacks could reach N. Tropy but not impeding N. Tropy's ability to attack Jak. Jak was forced to dodge Yellow Eco blasts, ground shockwaves of Red Eco, and Blue Eco lasers. Two Yellow Eco blasts which had to be dodged, four shockwaves which Jak had to jump over, and one Blue Eco laser (where N. Tropy launched lasers of Blue Eco from each end and span it around above his head like a baton) which had to be ducked under. Suddenly, N. Tropy's seemingly unending energy dissipated and he was left unprotected. Jak didn't take a moment to ponder the reason, just took advantage of it (he's terribly practical that way). He used his Blue Eco abilities through the Eco Staff in a blast similar to the Arc Wielder mod on his Morph Gun. Jak then slammed N. Tropy in the stomach with a blow strengthened by Red Eco, breaking the clock in his stomach area.

"Enough!" he cried, striking Jak across the face with his tuning fork. Jak was knocked back onto the other side of the platform. He moved his hand up to his struck cheek and pulled it away to see blood. N. Tropy's metal armored feet clanked against the metal platform. "Let's finish this!" he yelled, raising the heavy end of his tuning fork above his head and bringing it down towards Jak. Jak rolled out of the way just in time so that instead of crushing him, the tuning fork became buried in the metal (that's a powerful strike). Jak brought his Eco Staff behind his head like a baseball bat, charged a large amount of Red Eco in the head, and swung it so that the tong of the tuning fork imbedded in the platform broke off and N. Tropy was sent flying off the platform into the misty depths below.

With the demise of N. Tropy, the OKGs lost all leadership seeing as Cortex and Erol were now focused elsewhere and surrendered. They were now kept under lock and key in the newly reclaimed prison and the KG Death-Bots were all dismantled. Ashelin was reinstated as full governess of the city, and the heroes' business was done here. So now the three of them were standing in the Warp Room along with Coco, Crunch, Kiera, Cynder, Samos, and AkuAku.

"So," Jak said, stretching luxuriously as Kiera gave him a backrub, "where do we go now?"

"We interrogated a guard who had been around when the Villains were planning. According to him, they are going into Spyro's world, for reasons we do not know yet."

"Well, if they're in our world then let's go!" he shouted. Cynder followed him, along with Jak and Crash. Coco and Kiera attempted to follow but were impeded by the combined might of Samos and AkuAku.

"Kiera!" Samos began. "I will not allow you to enter an unknown world alone!"

"I'll be with Jak, Daddy," she said, exasperated.

"And as for you, AkuAku, _I_ can take care of _myself_!" she declared proudly.

"And," Crash added before AkuAku could argue, "Crunch and I'll be there with her." AkuAku sighed in defeat and agreed. Coco grinned at her brother and turned to the console of the Warp Room. She set it to some pre-recorded coordinates and the Warp Portal activated.

"Alright everyone, let's go!" she called. Everyone except for Samos lined up in front of the portal.

"I'll stay behind I'm just not too fond of teleportation," he said, walking out of the room. Spyro cracked his neck and took a running leap at the portal.

"Let's go guys, the sooner we get there, the less time the Villains will have to wreak havoc on my homeworld!" He disappeared into the portal, finally returning to his homeworld.

_Author's Note: And that is that. Review and stay tuned for Act II: Spyro's World; Geek out._


	11. Return to Avalar

_Author's Note: Here it is, Act II of Trial of the Heroes. This time, the Heroes must face Erol and Cortex's armies in the Dragon Realms, can they do it? Read and find out, and review if you want more._

**Act II: **

**Spyro's World**

**Chapter 1:**

**Return to Avalar**

Spyro launched out of the wormhole into a familiar bright blue sky. A gigantic valley opened up before him, full of green grass and trees with a wide river running through the middle of the valley. The purple dragon was able to identify the valley easily as the Valley of Avalar. He floated down and gracefully landed on the grass, a feat envied by many of his fellows. Cynder landed as gracefully (if not more) as he did and even Jak managed something of a graceful landing using his Light Eco Flight ability with Daxter clinging to his neck and Kiera held bridal-style in his arms. The Bandicoots however, had a less graceful landing….much, much less graceful. Crash spat out several handfuls of dirt and grass and began wiping his tongue off. Coco had managed to do a rolling landing so she wasn't quite as beat up and even Crunch managed to prevent his snout from being buries in the soil with his mechanical hand.

"Don't worry," he laughed as Crash continued to clean his tongue, "my first landing wasn't so graceful either, though I'm grateful that it was in snow." Crash shot him a glare and spat out the last ounce of dirt. Spyro turned to Cynder with a laugh, but stopped when he saw her expression. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Something just doesn't feel right, can't you feel it?" she asked. Spyro closed his eyes and allowed every bit of his surroundings to sink in. He too noticed that something didn't seem right.

"Yeah, I feel it." He opened his eyes and turned to the rest of the group. "Let's get moving, maybe we can figure out what the Villains are doing here." They walked forward through the valley into a forest. The procession through the trees continued until Crash suddenly tripped.

"Dang tree root!" he swore, looking back. However, instead of finding a tree root, he saw an egg shaped yellow gemstone. "Hey guys, look at this!" he called out. Spyro, Cynder, Coco, Crunch, and AkuAku seemed just as mystified as Crash at the strange stone. Jak and company, however, took defensive poses.

"Metalheads!" he hissed, holding the Eco Staff like a gun. Crash and Spyro didn't have any idea what Metalheads were but followed Jak's lead to take defensive positions, Crash pulling out his Bazooka. The three Heroes along with Crunch kept their defensive poses while circling around the group as they walked. The tense air was broken by Coco's timid voice

"Err, Jak?" she asked. Jak grunted to show he was listening. "Um, what exactly _is_ a Metalhead?"

"Metalheads are fierce, intelligent creatures capable of killing many. They come in sizes from the size of Daxter to larger than five KG Prison Zoomers lined up back to back. All of them have these gems in their skulls; no one knows quite what they're for." Coco seemed even more frightened after Jak's explanation. She moved much closer to her brother, hoping that Crash's bazooka would be enough to protect her.

Their ears perked up at the sound of clashing metal and strange shrieking noises from a clearing up ahead. They ran ahead to find a fort-like structure made of logs being attacked by a variety of strange, biomechanical creatures: Metalheads. The people they were attacking turned out to not be people but a race of anthropomorphic cheetahs. An especially large cheetah wearing a red cloak and carrying a bow leapt up and shot down one of the large ape-like Metalheads. He noticed Spyro and Cynder and smiled.

"Spyro, Cynder, I am glad to see you have returned. Strange creatures have begun attacking the village, we need your assistance and –if possible- your friend's in getting rid of them," he announced. Spyro turned to the others.

"Anyone interested in defeating some Metalheads?" he asked with a grin. Everyone except for Coco, Kiera, and Daxter nodded. "Then, Hunter, you've got your allies." The cheetah named Hunter nodded and led the fighters into the fray. Spyro and Cynder took off to lead the way into the battle, and therefore got the first view. The horrific creatures known as Metalheads were striking ferociously at the cheetah warriors fighting against them to protect their village. One of the larger ape-like ones leapt upon the cheetah leader, Chief Prowlus. Prowlus threw the creature onto its back, drew out his gladius and stabbed the creature in its chest, grinding the sword around its rib cage. Another one pounced at the Chief, only to be shot down with an arrow by Hunter. Crowds of Metalheads began breaking through the barrier, signaling that the time to watch was over, the time to fight was now. Spyro swooped down upon a crowd of the scorpion-like Metalheads and unleashed a torrent of fire to fry them down. Cynder then swooped upon several ape-like Metalheads, began spinning, and flung them around in a huge cyclone. Spyro unleashed a flood of fire into Cynder's cyclone, frying the apes to a deep crisp. Many of their company who had never seen the two dragons fighting side-by-side were mystified by the skill and power they presented, thought snapping out of it long enough to beat off several Metalheads. Presented with the might of the Heroes, the Metalheads quickly retreated from the village into the dark forests surrounding it. Chief Prowlus lead a cheer of victory before walking towards the Heroes. His attention was brought to Spyro and Cynder and he bowed in thanks.

"Yet again you have proven yourselves worthy of trust, and yet again you have saved our village from attack," he said graciously. "However I have not met your friends who have proved themselves as great fighters." Spyro nodded and walked over to stand next to Jak and Crash.

"This is Jak," Spyro said, indicating Jak, "and this is Crash, all three of us are considered Heroes."

"I see, your friends fight with strange weapons," he said, indicating Crash's Bazooka and Jak's Eco Staff.

"Yeah, it would seem that my society is much more technologically advanced than yours," Jak said.

"Yeah mate," Crash agreed, "this place is medieval." Spyro coughed for attention which was then given to him.

"Chief, can you tell us what's going on here?" he asked of Prowlus.

"Yes, those creatures have been attacking us day in and day out since you disappeared. No word has come from Warfang yet as to what's going on now. It is too dangerous for messengers to travel between the settlements now, even through the forbidden way." Spyro nodded in understanding.

"We need to return to Warfang and see what's going on there, I have to know." Prowlus nodded in understanding.

"Hunter will lead you down the forbidden way, as you know it will take you straight into the city," he said. Spyro nodded in thanks.

"Alright guys, let's go," he called to the party behind him and together they followed Hunter out of the settlement, through the once beautiful now burned landscape, and into the tunnel that lead to Warfang, the Dragon City.


	12. Return to Warfang

**Chapter 2:**

**Return to Warfang**

The distant rumblings of many footsteps alerted the group of heroes that they were nearing the city. Spyro strained his body not to go up to full speed as he noticed that the rumblings were too coordinated to be regular footsteps, it was marching, the marching of an invading army.

"Hurry up, Warfang is under attack!" he shouted back to the others. Crash and Jak broke into a run but it still wasn't fast enough for Spyro. "Hurry!" he bellowed.

"Hey this might have escaped your notice, but not all of us have wings," Crash snapped back angrily. "We're goin' as fast as we can." Spyro huffed and continued flying forward at an increased speed. The rest of the company followed close behind the two dragons until an entrance presented itself. Warfang was famous for being continually war torn but now it was in an even greater state of disrepair. Spyro and Cynder easily flew over the ruins but the others were forced to clamber over the ruined domes and towers. They reached the courtyard and found that the main gate had been forced open and all sorts of Metalheads were making their way through. Several of the spinning Metalheads were racing along the courtyard and attacking the moles desperately defending the city. Of course the moles with their melee weapons could not take out the spinning Metalheads but Jak would make short work of those buggers. He took out the Eco Staff, pointed it towards the crowd of Metalheads and shot out a blast of Red Eco similar to the Wave Concussor mod on the Morph Gun. Crash leapt at several ape Metalheads and spun around, severely injuring the creatures. However, one managed to take its claws and swipe Crash down. Coco screamed, alerting Spyro to his fellow Hero's peril. He swooped down upon the creatures and unleashed an ice bomb which froze the Metalheads in place. One icicle tail swipe later, all the Metalheads in Crash's vicinity were down and out of the counting. Spyro then headed off for a large rhino like Metalhead which was giving Jak a lot of trouble. The front of the beast was heavily armored and therefore useless for attacking it but it would never turn his vulnerable back on him. Spyro swooped in while the beast was distracted and shot a powerful earth missile into its backside, taking the beast out for the count.

"Thanks," Jak panted in relief. He turned his attention to a crowd of ape like ones, charged a Peacemaker reminiscent orb of electricity, and unleashed it at the group. Spyro turned around with a terrible earth flail and knocked out the spider like Metalhead attempting to sneak up on him. The creature attempted to get up but was felled by one of Hunter's arrows in its unprotected underbelly before it could get on its legs. To his left, Crunch was giving a persistent Metalhead a left hook to the side of the head. It's head snapped to the right with a crack and slumped to the ground, dead. Coco and Kiera were defending themselves pretty well, one Metalhead getting Kiera's monkey wrench lodged in its throat while another had its neck broken by a fierce roundhouse kick from Coco. Crash had recovered and was spinning around into the smaller Metalheads assaulting a group of moles. It seemed they were winning until a roar erupted from the other side of the gate. It crashed open and revealed several dinosaur-like Metalheads trying to get in. Spyro turned expectantly towards Jak to see him cursing violently under his breath. He charged another Peacemaker blast on the end of his staff and fired it at the Wasteland Metalheads, unfortunately only angering them. Jak leapt to the side as one charged at him at the same time that Crash dodged the other. Spyro had a brainwave and flew towards his fellow Heroes to tell them.

"Jak, Crash, stand back to back and make the Metalheads charge at each other. Dodge out of the way just as they're about to crash and they should end up killing each other."

"It might just work," Jak muttered. "Let's do it." Crash nodded and stood back to back with Jak as their respective assaulters charged. They dodged at the last second and the Metalheads were sent careening into each other, their heads snapping towards where the two Heroes were situated with deadly cracks before they slumped to the ground like their brethren. Their celebration was short lived as more Wasteland Metalheads swooped in, charging and doing considerable damage to the already torn courtyard. Daxter could be heard moaning something that sounded like: "Where's Sig when ya need him?" and Jak muttering something back irritably. Just when it seemed like the Heroes' end was nigh, a gigantic earth missile connected with one Wasteland Metalhead and blasted it down. Spyro looked up and yelled triumphantly when he recognized the three remaining guardians.

"Terrador, Cyril, Volteer!" he shouted.

"Need a hand?" asked the large green Earth Guardian as he swept his mace like tail at another Wasteland Metalhead.

"Things seem a little hot down there, how about I cool it down a notch," the ice blue Ice Guardian laughed, the only one to do so because of how bad the pun was. He breathed a stream of snow down upon the assaulting Metalheads, freezing them in place.

"How about we make them do a little jig?" hinted the bright yellow Electricity Guardian, sending down a stream of electricity which made all the Wasteland Metalheads spasm in response. Jak finished whatever he had been doing and now turned his Eco Staff (the end of which was now glowing a bright electric blue) to the Wasteland Metalheads and fired a pill shaped blast which flew up and then to the ground. The courtyard was obscured in light for a moment until it lessened and a miniature mushroom cloud became visible. All the Metalheads in the courtyard had been incinerated while the innocent citizens had been spared. The Heroes yelled triumphantly, quickly followed by all the citizens and Guardians. A little yellow spot flew towards Spyro and collided with his muzzle in a hug.

"Sparx?" he asked incredulously.

"Spyro mah brother, how ya been?" Sparx asked excitedly. "Not too good, you see learning about a plot for universal domination really puts a damper on your spirits," Spyro chuckled.

"Right, yeah, like how you left me alone _again_ to go with her _again_," he said dramatically, pointing at Cynder.

"Great, if having Daxter around wasn't enough, now we have Daxter, _and_ Sparx," Cynder moaned.

"Yeah I missed you too Cynder," Sparx said sarcastically.

"Hey," Jak butted in before Cynder could retort, "we _do_ have a mission to do here don't we?" Spyro turned to Jak.

"Yeah, does anyone know what's going on?" Spyro asked around. His response was greeted with mutters of "no" and shaken heads.

"However," Terrador said helpfully, "the Chronicler might be able to give you answers." Spyro hesitated; he had never really liked the old dragon known as the Chronicler.

"Spyro, we don't have any choice," Cynder said. "We have to know what's going on." Spyro sighed and turned to his fellow heroes.

"Alright, but how are we gonna get all you guys to the Celestial Caves?" he asked. "You have to fly to get there and Jak's the only person other than Cynder and I who can really fly." Jak chuckled.

"Well, it's a good thing I brought this then." He brought out a communicator and called into it. "Torn, Ashelin, requesting _Hellcat_s on Dragon World, coordinates (45, 30)," he said. They waited for a minute when suddenly, two forms materialized. The forms turned out to be two sleek, triton shaped aircraft, one blue with yellow stripes and another green with orange stripes. Crash pointed at the green and orange _Hellcat_ and said: "Dibs on the green one." Jak chuckled and ruffled Crash's auburn hair.

"That one was intended for you guys, that blue and yellow one is _my Hellcat_," he chuckled. Crash nodded then walked over to the green _Hellcat_ and leapt into the cockpit. Jak did the same with the blue one and was followed by Kiera and Daxter while Coco and Crunch followed Crash into the green one. Crash picked up a headset located on the dashboard and put it on.

"Hey there, this is…" he looked at the dashboard to see the identification, "…_Hellcat _2 requesting permission for takeoff." He waited awhile until Jak called him back.

"_Hellcat_ 2, this is _Hellcat_ Leader saying all systems go," Jak called back as he hit the start button on the blue _Hellcat_. Crash repeated Jak's movements and placed his gloved hands on the steering pitch. The jet boosters activated and both _Hellcats_ took off into the blue.

"Alright guys, follow me," Spyro ordered before turning so that he was facing the direction of the Celestial Caves and flew off towards the ancient island.

_Author's Note: You know the drill: review and I update. Soon enough updating will slow down significantly because I am finally catching up with where I am in actually writing the story. I am currently one chapter away from the end of Act II so Act III should take a while to update come that time; Geek out._


	13. Gem Power

_Author's Note: Special thanks to Jonah-EN (my number one fan) and crossover master CadeXHybrid for reviewing. Chapters 3 and 4 of Act II are extremely short so forgive me on that note. Then again, Act II itself is really short, seeing as I never exactly thought this one through. Don't worry though, Act III is plenty long to make up for this; Tchuss from the Geek. _

**Chapter 3:**

**Gem Power**

The loud grinding of stones on the beach underneath the hulls of the two airships behind Spyro announced the arrival of the other Heroes. Both cockpits opened to allow Crash, Coco, Crunch, Jak, Kiera, and Daxter out onto the stony beach.

"That _Hellcat_ thing is awesome," Crash said in awe as he clambered out of the green _Hellcat's_ cockpit.

"Glad you like it," Jak grinned back as he repeated Crash's motions. Spyro and Cynder led the way for them all inside the temple, where the hallway extended out to a partially frozen area. Crash walked along at the back of the group. He stopped to look at a reflective piece of ice that was bent so that the reflection of his stomach area seemed bloated. Crash chuckled and began moving into different positions so that different parts of him were seemingly compressed and stretched. The rest of the team (who hadn't noticed him stopping) had gone off ahead and when he looked around for them, he was unable to find them. He started walking along the hall, but when he came to a fork in the road he scratched his head in confusion. The left was much lighter and therefore it was more likely that his friends went there, but he felt a strange pull to the right, a pull which he felt he should follow. Crash walked along the tunnel as it got increasingly darker and darker until he couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way to emptiness and he toppled down into the depths of the caves, letting out a loud "WHOA!" as he did so.

Crash opened his eyes slowly to the sight of long shadows. He groaned and got up off of his aching back and onto his feet. The bandicoot observed his surroundings to find that this new cave was much stonier than the one above had been and that different colored crystals littered the walls. He edged away from a suspicious looking purple one and stumbled straight onto something. The bandicoot hero looked back to see that what he had tripped on was a Power Gem, a yellow one.

"Now what's this doing here?" he wondered, bending down to pick it up. He leapt away with a cry of shock when it began glowing and rising off the ground. In a spark of electricity, it transformed from a translucent yellow stone into the unmistakable form of Rok-Ko the Earth Elemental.

"Yo, what up Bandicoot?" he said. The mast got a look at Crash's shocked expression and sighed. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt ya, technically I'm still locked up in my prison with the Ancients looking over me. By the way, did you know that the Ancients are a bunch of short, furry, orange dudes like the one riding on the green-haired dude's shoulder? Anyway, the head Ancient guy was all like: "You go and help Crash Bandicoot in his fight against the Villains," but I was all like: "Oh no brother, I'm through with Fuzz-head," then the Ancient dude zapped me with his staff and he was all like: "Do it, I order you too," and then I'm all like: "Okay dude, chill." So here I am doing what he told me to."

"Which is?" Crash asked.

"I'm supposed to give you some of your old powers back. So Crash, remember when you could knock guys, like, 50 feet away from you with one of those spin attacks?" he asked Crash.

"Yeah mate, I've been wondering why I couldn't do it anymore," Crash sighed.

"Well, it's 'cause you got those powers from the Gems, more specifically us Elementals. You see, before UkaUka went and made us all go be evil and destructive and all that, we were just placed into hibernation around the Wumpa Islands with our energies split up into the Colored Gems. Then when you defeated us, you locked us up way away from Earth and the Colored Gems were taken to different parts of the universe so we couldn't be resurrected again. So now that you've found the Yellow Gem, you now have the ability to blast guys away from you back, something that should really help." Crash scratched his head.

"So wait, if my ability to knock people so far away came from the Yellow Gem, then what do the others do?" he asked.

"Well let's see; if you find the Green Gem I will grant you your Super Belly-Flop move back; the Purple Gem will grant you with your Hover Ability; and then the others will grant you with stuff you ain't never seen before." Rok-Ko grinned. "Sorry to leave like this but, I gotta go, peace." And with that, Rok-Ko disappeared and the Yellow Gem reappeared, shocked Crash with yellow electricity and settled back on the ground as a Clear Gem. Crash shook his head to clear it and looked around. The question now was: how did he get back to the others? The sound of footsteps came from an opening in front of him which sloped far up. He ran at it and managed to use his arms and legs to climb out of the hole and find himself facing the toes of Jak's boots.

"There you are," Jak chuckled, reaching down to pull Crash out by the scruff of his neck. He set Crash back down on the ground, where he was then tackled by Coco.

"Where _were_ you?" she half-screamed, punching him in the arm. Crash rubbed the place sorely then grabbed Coco around the neck with his elbow and started rubbing his knuckles into her hair. Jak watched with a half-amused face until his eyes alighted on Spyro who was giving the group an aggravated look.

"Okay guys, let's get moving, Spyro looks like he's gonna have a hissy fit," Jak chuckled, breaking the bandicoots apart. He then led everyone behind the two dragons onward through the caves towards the inner sanctum of the Celestial Caves.


	14. The Chronicler

**Chapter 4:**

**The Chronicler**

The Heroes moved into a circular room which dipped down in the center before it revealed a heavily locked door beyond. Spyro's mouth twitched as he looked at that area and then at Cynder next to him.

"If I remember this, then one of us must face their worst fear before we may go on," he said. Everyone looked at each other, wondering who would do it until Crash stepped forward.

"It's about time I started being a real help to the team," he said, shifting his Bazooka against his back. "See you later mates." He stepped into the circular area and felt himself being transported to a different place.

Crash's feet settled down onto cold flat earth in an area surrounded by open space. He looked over at the other side to see a silhouette hovering over another one. The one on the ground was whimpering while the other did something to it. Crash approached and after several paces recognized the standing form as the one of Neo Cortex, after all no one else had a head that big. Cortex turned to face Crash with a wicked grin. He stepped aside to allow Crash to see the other form, which he saw as Coco's form heavily bound and severely burned and cut.

"Hey, what were you doing to her?" he growled to the dream Cortex.

"This," grinned the man, taking his blaster from his pocket and firing at Crash. Crash dodged several of Cortex's weaker blasts, which he knew would infuriate Cortex. As expected, Cortex charged up a more powerful blast and fired it. These blasts were more powerful but because of that they were slower, which Crash took advantage of by spinning into it and hurling it back at Cortex. Cortex was hurled back and over the edge of the platform they were on into the blackness until he disappeared from sight. Crash sighed, Cortex had always been way too easy to beat up; the guy never changed his style.

"Okay, I beat my worst fear, can I go now?" he called out to the nothingness surrounding him. Nothing happened. He looked down at the fake Coco's mutilated form, a shudder forming along his spine. But that solved his problem, his worst fear wasn't Cortex, of course it wasn't, his greatest fear was seeing Coco hurt. Crash knelt down next to his sister and started rubbing the solid part of her forehead. She moaned and looked at him, a smile forming on her face.

"Hey Big Brother," she croaked.

"You're okay," he sighed in relief. Coco shook his head.

"Crash, I'm not okay, I can feel it. Crash, I'm dying." Crash looked at her for a moment.

"You, you're not serious," he stuttered. Coco nodded.

"Crash, the test wasn't just about being able to see me hurt; the test is one of accepting your greatest fear. My death is your greatest fear, so in order to pass through the test, you have to let me go," she said. Crash was shocked.

"Accept your death? I-I could never do that, you're too important to me." He clenched his eyes shut. "You're all I have left, Crunch isn't much help, and Tawna left long ago so how do I accept your death?" Coco cracked one smile.

"You just have to." And with that, the image of his sister shuddered and became motionless. Crash clenched his eyes shut, rage burning through his every pore, and with a yell of rage became the dark monster the Crystals had created. The rage burned for several minutes as dark electricity burned around him before it all faded and he was left as normal Crash. He sighed.

"I will _never_ accept your death, Coco," he addressed the corpse on the ground. "But one thing I will do is track down those who did it and make sure those who did it will never do it to another soul. For I am a Hero, and that's what Heroes do." The shudder that was still plastered along the false dead Coco's face was replaced by a smile and her voice from some spirit rang through his ears.

"I wouldn't expect anything else, Big Brother." A white flash rang through the dream world and everything was gone.

Crash awoke in the middle of the circle to see everyone standing around him. The girls, Crunch, Jak, and Spyro had looks of concern on their faces while Daxter and Sparx looked faintly amused.

"We got a live 'un," Daxter called jokingly from Jak's shoulder, earning himself a sound slap across the back of his skull.

"Shut up Dax," Jak growled as his friend picked himself off the floor he had been sent into by Jak's blow. Sparx hovered nearby Daxter.

"Sheesh, some guys just don't have a sense of humor do they?" Sparx said. Daxter smiled at the dragonfly and placed and arm around where Sparx's shoulders would be if he was Daxter's size.

"Sparky boy, I believe this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Crash rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Come on, let's go in and see this Chronicler guy for ourselves," he said. They all followed Crash's lead and walked into the next room which was dominated by a huge hourglass in the center and shelves covered in thick volumes.

"Chronicler," Spyro called out in the room. The soft padding of feet announced the arrival of an electric blue dragon from another room. This dragon had an hourglass pendant hanging from his neck but other than that was a normal dragon.

"Spyro?" the dragon called in an all too familiar, hoarse voice.

"I-Ignitus?" Spyro said in shock. Former Fire Guardian and Purple Dragon looked at each other in shock then laughed out in joy.

"I thought you and Cynder died when Malefor was recaptured."

"I thought you died when you escorted us through the Burnt Lands," Spyro argued.

"It seems we were both wrong, though."

"Hey look," Jak said, as he was getting annoyed at the constant obstacles. "We just want to know what Erol and Cortex are doing here." Ignitus' muzzle stretched down so that it was level with Jak's face.

"You do not think that those two alone could take over the universe? Even with the aid of the Hora quan*?" he asked. "No, only one person could possibly aid Cortex and Erol in universal domination."

"Who?" Jak asked. Ignitus gave them all a meaningful look.

"Malefor of course."

"But," Cynder began. "But, how could they get him out again?"

"Malefor is contained in a prison of Light, if it is consumed by too much Darkness, then Malefor will be able to get out," he explained.

"How do we stop it?" Ignitus looked over at the three Heroes.

"If you get to Malefor before Cortex and Erol do, you can seal the prison and not even the amount of Darkness they have in their arsenal can break open the prison." Jak nodded and looked at the others.

"Let's go guys," he ordered, walking off to the exit. Spyro smiled at Ignitus before following Jak's orders. Ignitus looked after them all and said in a whisper:

"So long Heroes, may the Ancestors light your path."

*Hora quan is the Metalheads' true name as stated by the Precursor Idol before the second boss battle in _Jak II_

_Author's Note: You know the drill; Geek out._


	15. Trial by Fire

_Author's Note: I would like to thank Jonah-EN for reviewing, seeing as he's the only one who does anymore. After these two chapters I'm posting today I will be officially at the point where I am writing, so send me inspiring reviews to relieve my bad case of writer's block. Also, there is a new poll on my profile to help determine what story I should do next. I decided I didn't want to do Tyler and Clink, or Star Fox Nex Gen, or Power of the Crystals. The two options on the poll are as follows:_

_Trial of the Heroes II: Trial and Error, the sequel to Trial of the Heroes which will include Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank characters along with a few more Jak and Daxter characters._

_Nintendo Crossover (Codename: Trial of the Heroes Nintendo Edition), AU to TotH including the Mario Bros. from Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, Link (OoT version) from Legend of Zelda, the Star Fox team from Star Fox, Samus Aran from Metroid, and Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid. Tell me what you want after this story, after you've given me inspiring reviews; Geek out._

**Chapter 5:**

**Trial by Fire**

A sound like thunder erupted from a bank of smoke as two forms blasted through. Spyro and Cynder had taken a break inside the two _Hellcat_ fighters for the time, saving their strength for the fight ahead. Before them extended the Burnt Lands: a fiery wasteland enclosing the area around the entrance to Malefor's prison inside of the gigantic volcano that dominated the skyline. They flew down low and landed on a flat area on the rim of the volcano's crater, right next to a small trail downwards. The Heroes exited the two vehicles, hoisted their weapons onto their shoulders if they had one, and trekked down into the volcano's depths. The trail was dangerously small and the largest of the group (Jak and Crunch) had to walk sideways. Spyro and Cynder were flying next to the trail and enjoying a freedom of movement which their ground-bound fellows could not enjoy. Suddenly, the already perilous situation became much more so.

"Damn!" he swore as bolts of Dark Eco only barely missed his face, though the lime green hairs of his goatee got a singing. Upon turning their heads, the Heroes were greeted with the sight of flying Metalheads launching Dark Eco bolts at them. Cynder bulleted towards one, grabbed it, kicked and scratched it with her powerful back claws, and threw it down into the depths. Spyro joined her by executing a similar maneuver on one of the others. A few spit balls of poison from Cynder quickly took out the other two and left the Heroes with a temporary peace.

"Guys, stay on the alert, they could attack at any minute," Spyro warned, but too late as a Plasmite bomb flew up and destroyed the ground under Jak's feet.

"FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…" Jak screamed, his voice fading out before his swear could be completed. Daxter just managed to cling to the edge closer to the bottom and was hoisted up by Crash. The explosion had made a gap in the trail that was too big to jump, effectively separating Crash and Daxter from Coco, Crunch, and Keira. Soon enough the perpetrator showed their face: Erol in a KG Deathbot mech.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You fools are too late, we are already well into the process of releasing Malefor and there is nothing you fools can do. But, while you're here…" Erol grinned evilly as he raised one gun arm of the mech. "Say goodbye-ahhh!" Erol yelled as Spyro threw himself at the arm, forcing it off aim. "You little…" Erol swung one arm of the mech at Spyro and caught him in a death grip. In a feat of bravery (or simply gallant stupidity) Crash leapt onto the arm of the mech, aimed his Bazooka at Erol's face in the cockpit, and fired a Wumpa, which splattered across the windshield. One of the mech's hands came up to wipe the fruit off the glass, but in the process he both released Spyro and tilted the other arm so that Crash fell off. Spyro caught Crash on his back so that the bandicoot did not fall like Jak. Erol had finished wiping the Wumpa off of his windshield and now pointed his guns at Crash and Spyro with a vengeance.

"Cynder," he called to the black dragoness. "Get Coco, Crunch, and Keira out of here, we'll distract him!"

"No!" Coco interjected. "We want to stay and help!" Crunch nodded in agreement.

"Coco, you're not helping, you guys can't do anything right now, leave this to us!" Crash growled. Coco sniffed but followed their orders as she, Crunch, and Keira followed Cynder to the top of the crater.

"Hey, what about me?" he shouted indignantly. However, he was ignored as Erol pointed one arm up at the top of the trail, intending to destroy it with another bomb but a beaker launched by Crash knocked its aim off. The Villain growled and flew the mech upwards so that he could take the ones they cared about down with a few well placed shots, but Crash and Spyro were on his tail.

"Crash, hang on!" Spyro called as he sped up significantly, climbed very high up above Erol, tucked his wings in, and dived straight at the mech's back. He curled up and cast a shield of Earth around them before colliding into the thick armor plating. Erol was knocked far back, away from the volcano and into the space above the wide valley of the Burnt Lands. Crash and Spyro flew so they were in front of him; both the Heroes and the Villain put on battle poses and began.

Erol began with a barrage of bullets fired in streams at the Heroes, who easily avoided the fire while Crash shot some beakers at the Gatling guns on either arm. Next, ports in his shoulders opened and Eco rockets flew out to try and hit the two Heroes, but were deflected back at him by an Earth shielded barrel roll. The two rockets connected with their points of origin and exploded, causing all the unused rockets to explode as well and make those ports useless. Another volley of Gatling gunfire was responded to with beakers which managed to destroy the weapons. The forearms of the robot flipped so that instead of the destroyed Gatling guns, the Heroes were faced with laser dishes. Erol put his right mech arm forward, charged it up, and unleashed a stream of Blue Eco at them. Spyro flew around it and once all the energy had been expended, unleashed fireballs that made the dish useless. After a similar episode with the second, he did the same thing and left Erol seemingly defenseless…seemingly. Erol put together the two arms and arcs of Eco laced between them. It soon became clear that he was creating a Peacemaker-like weapon which he would launch at them with disastrous results. However, the two Heroes were distracted as the sound of _Hellcat_ engines came from behind.

"I am _not _being left behind!" she shouted angrily as she unleashed a barrage of Yellow Eco bolts at the ball of electricity.

"Coco _NO_!" he yelled, but too late as the reaction between the two Ecos created an explosion which drove the mech into a crazy somersault with its limbs spread wide and knocked the two Heroes out of the air and onto a plateau.

They landed with an explosion of ash straight into a stalagmite of brimstone, which broke into a thousand pieces as soon as they made contact. One ruby red, transparent stone was knocked into Crash's arms, upon which it floated into the air and became a fiery looking mask.

"Look bandicoot," Pyro drawled, "I don't have time to have a lengthy conversation with you like Rok-Ko did. All you need to know is that I am now granting a fiery power to your Wumpa fruit. Those things are loaded with sugar, and sugar _burns_ real good so they'll do more damage. Believe me, you're gonna need it." Pyro turned back into the Red Gem, the color seeped into Crash, and the now Clear Gem landed on the ground. Crash picked up his Bazooka and turned it to the Wumpa setting just as Erol came up to face Crash. Spyro had been knocked out by the crash into the rock and now Crash was left all alone. Blue Eco glowed at the ends of the arms where they had been destroyed by the blast and Precursor Metal came up from the rocks to attach themselves to the ends of the arms and create new forearms with large, four fingered hands one the end. Daxter emerged from where he had been hiding on Crash's back all this time, blackened by soot, and stared at the robot and its giant forearms.

"Oh that is _so_ not fair!" he shouted indignantly as Erol charged Red Eco in one fist of Precursor Metal and slammed it into the ground to create a huge shockwave which Crash only barely dodged. Crash launched the new, fiery Wumpa at the palm of the hand, which was shown to be where he charged the Eco. It closed into a fist before Crash could destroy it and was swung down in a right hook that Crash just barely rolled away from. Erol charged Yellow Eco in the palm of the left hand and threw the ball of energy at Crash like a baseball, though Crash dodged it. He fired more fireballs of the sugary fruit at the left hand and managed to make it explode when the Gem Energy reacted with the Eco. Erol slammed a Red Eco slap to the ground near Crash which he dodged by jumping and landed on the top. This he had not meant to do and he was shaken off his feet when the hand lifted. The villain smiled evilly and drew back his hand in preparation of backslapping a spire of brimstone and smashing Crash into an orange pulp. Crash quickly clambered up to the top of the palm and leapt down onto the ground again before the hand made contact with the brimstone. Erol pulled at the hand as it stuck in the brimstone and broke off the new forearm. He growled, faced Crash who had now returned to Spyro's side and yelled.

"Arghh! I hoped I wouldn't be forced to use this!" The plates of the mech's chest armor opened up to reveal a large hole. Dark Eco began charging up in that area, to be thrown at the Heroes to obliterate them! Crash began firing at a near unbelievable pace until with a huge explosion of Dark Eco, the mech was destroyed. The head of the mech flew up close to him and stopped, revealing that Erol still lived and was not happy. "You still haven't won Heroes, Malefor should be released by now and we can begin the conquering of the Universe. We Villains shall reign triumphant!" he shouted as he flew away and disappeared into a portal. Crash picked up Spyro, fired at the hand stuck in the brimstone spire so that it blew up and left the way to the _Hellcat_ fighters clear. There they could go and wait for Jak and whatever news came from the bottom of the volcano.


	16. Malefor's Return

**Chapter 6:**

**Malefor's Return**

Jak was falling, and had been falling, for what felt like hours. Erol's cheap shot with the Plasmite grenade had taken him completely by surprise and he was still dazed by the suddenness of it. He shook himself and concentrated upon becoming Light Jak so he could fly out of there but as the ray of bright light engulfed him, streams of purple electricity from the sides of the volcano stopped him in the middle of transformation. The ghostly entity was replaced a demonic pale blue one but something was wrong. The half formed angelic wings were being replaced by two painful, scalloped wings. Instinctively, he spread the new appendages and his descent slowed to a crawling pace. Jak looked down and saw that at the bottom of the crater, a second passageway broke off. From that second passageway, a strong wave of Dark Power was flowing. It was overly obvious that Malefor was in that direction and that his release was well underway. Jak growled, folded his wings back, and dove into that passageway.

Even in his bestial state, Jak's human (or elf?) emotions still functioned as he felt disgust at the sheer amount of shuddering, pill-shaped Metalhead eggs that covered the walls of this tunnel. Jak pulled out his Eco Staff which was now laced with Dark Eco energy and began firing Dark bolts at the eggs. They exploded with sickening "squish" noises as they exploded into little rubbery pieces. He charged a Peacemaker-like ball of Dark Energy and fired it at the largest clutch of eggs, his bestial self enjoying the gory explosion which followed. Soon enough, the eggs which would have soon enough become a new wave of Metalhead minions were destroyed and the passageway forward was opened. It was obvious that the Dark Eco concentration was becoming too much even for the Metalheads that thrived on the stuff. However, it did nothing to stop Jak, who had endured much more Dark Eco exposure than this during his time as Baron Praxis' "guest".

The end of the passageway opened up into a large chamber where two Dark Eco lasers were drilling away at a large Light Crystal. Jak landed on the Light Crystal and immediately turned into his normal self. On the surface of the crystal was a large blade of Precursor Metal with a large circular hole in the bottom. Jak looked from the large head of the Eco Staff to the hole in the blade, put two and two together, and placed the two weapons together. Immediately, the two weapons were engulfed in light and after a blinding transformation, were replaced with a large sword of Precursor Metal with a familiar symbol, that of the House of Mar, in the pommel. It then hit Jak; Mar had always been depicted carrying a sword just like this. He looked around the crystal and saw something, a slot where it was obvious that the sword went.

"Yes!" he cried triumphantly as he ran forward and prepared to drive the sword into the crystal. However, before he could, a blast of green energy struck him in the chest and forced him back. A large burn was in his tunic from where the blast had contacted. He looked upward to see Cortex on his Rocket Board protecting the slot.

"Don't you dare put that sword in the slot!" Cortex ordered. He pushed a button on his wrist and a green forcefield protected him and the slot from Jak. "Now Jak, heir to Mar's throne, behold to witness1 the powerhouse that is Malefor the Dark Master!"

The crystal under Jak's feet lost its violet glow and became dark grey and opaque just like all the other rock in the cavern. As the rock began cracking, Jak ran and leapt onto an adjacent stone platform. Dark energy began crackling forth from the cracks in the stone as a huge explosion in the stone preceded a gigantic claw forcing its way out.

"_**I have returned!**_" the Dark Master crowed as first his large back, then his powerful shoulders and gigantic wings, finally followed by his three-horned head broke through the stone and filled the entire cavern. His reddish eyes alighted upon Jak with his Eco Sword firmly grasped in his hand standing on the long platform remaining in the cavern. "_**So, this is the mighty Mar, the great warrior who is remembered and revered throughout time.**_" He chuckled then fixed his gaze back upon Jak. Jak dodged a spurt of Dark Fire from Malefor's maw with a quick roll to the side. He breathed deeply and calmed his mind, allowing whatever Light Eco he still possessed to take over and turn him into Light Jak. Malefor flinched as the light from Jak's ghostly form burned his eyes. "_**You dare bring light into my lair? You must die!**_2" Jak fired two Light blasts at Malefor's face but was disheartened when they had no effect. A Dark blast struck Jak in the chest, sending him straight off his platform and into the side of the cavern. Malefor's bellow and the crashing blows his tail was delivering to the sides of the cavern made several rocks fall out of the ceiling and also opened up an exit for Jak. Recognizing his defeat, Jak opened up his wings and flew through the opening.

Crash, Spyro, Coco, Crunch, Daxter, Cynder, and Keira all looked around as a great bellow issued forth from the volcano and it collapsed in a flash of dark light. Keira screamed as she pointed at the recognizable shape of Light Jak fleeing the destruction and the giant form of Malefor.

"Woo, no one can defeat our boy Jak!" Daxter whooped, leaping up and down on an irritable Crash's head. Jak landed on the rock, turned back into himself and looked around at the others. "Whoa Jak, where'd you get the cool s…"

"No time Dax!" he yelled, cutting off Daxter's remark at his new weapon. "Everyone into the _Hellcats_!" No one argued with their unofficial leader, quickly clambering into the two fighters and taking off quickly. It was lucky they did as a giant Dark Fireball came down upon the place and completely obliterated it. Malefor's huge silhouette threw back its head in laughter and spoke directly to them all.

"_**You Heroes shall never defeat us! We shall either dominate each planet or destroy them, starting with the bandicoot's beloved Earth!**_" Malefor subsided into demonic laughter as he, along with the visible form of Cortex in a vehicle flew through a portal and disappeared from sight.

"We have to stop him!" Crash insisted through the comms.

"Then let's go, seems they left the door open for us." Without argument, the two ships flew through the portal which undoubtedly lead to the Wumpa Islands, ready for what would undoubtedly be their final confrontation with the Villains.

_I believe the line: "behold to witness my power" comes from Star Fox Adventures or something like that. The way it botches the English language is just too funny not to observe._

_The line: "You dare bring light into my lair? You must die!" is a heavily overused line from Legend of Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It is said when Zelda enters Ganondorf's lair with this magical lamp and he doesn't like light so he freaks out. _

_Author's Note: You know what to do, send me inspiring reviews and I will be quicker to post the subsequent chapters of Act III: Crash's World._


	17. Battle of the Skies

_Author's Note: Jeez, I've taken a long time to get this up. It's an ugly little combination of writers block and finally catching up to where I was writing the story. From now on, it's one chapter updates instead of the usual two. I also had a little trouble to deal with in the Sly Cooper area. See, some anonymous yahoo thought it was their job to tell off everyone he thought was being mean to Slylady345, and apparently he saw one of my reviews as insulting so he decided to leave a crappy little review on this story telling me to get out of her face. Luckily, he was an anonymous so I could delete the review and I talked to Slylady345 and worked out the entire thing. Dang it was frustrating. Anyway, back to the story; Geek out._

**Act III:**

**Crash's World**

**Chapter 1:**

**Battle of the Skies**

The two _Hellcat_ fighters emerged into a raging battle between flying ships similar to their own. Two capital ships were broadside of each other, one a red and yellow zeppelin with the distinctive 'N' symbol of Neo Cortex, the other a blue and white submarine like ship. Each of the smaller fighters flying around carried either the red and yellow of the Villains or the blue and white of the defenders. Jak looked around for the Villains and cursed as he realized that they must have found security inside either the zeppelin or the semi-ruined and reconstructed castle far below them. A translucent green dome covered the island the castle/fortress was on, obviously a forcefield. It seemed most likely that they would be in there, damn it. Jak turned on the comms unit and called Crash.

"Crash, we've got to help them!" Crash agreed and split off from Jak after a squad of yellow and red fighters. A flood of missiles soon made them disappear from the skies in a giant fireball, followed by several others. Jak turned his _Hellcat_ to follow a larger fighter and shot at it with Yellow Eco blasts. It exploded after a few shots, blowing away into little fiery pieces. Another fighter came up on his tail, but a quick somersault and a few Yellow Eco blasts turned the tides against that one. Jak watched as Crash's _Hellcat_'s cockpit opened to let the two dragons out into the fray. He continued watching as Spyro dove at a fighter, sending it into an out of control somersault and then blasted it with fire. The crispy hull of the ship fell and collided with a much larger ship below. Daxter whooped from behind Jak in happiness and made false punches at the fighters.

"They ain't got nothing on us, Jak. Absolutely nothing," he grinned confidently. Jak was prevented from sharing his friend's casual attitude by the appearance of powerful turrets on the side of the zeppelin.

"Seems it's a little too early to celebrate Dax," Jak warned as he changed his flight path to do a fly by shoot at the turrets. "Dax, get on the gun!" he ordered.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Daxter said with a mock salute. He crawled into the gun chamber and rode the _Hellcat_'s small turret to the top of the ship. Daxter pulled his goggles down over his eyes, aimed, and fired at the turrets as Jak flew by them. In a minute, they were Swiss cheese and then exploded.

Back with Crash, he had a few more heavy pieces of artillery to deal with. Several ground-to-air missile launchers were stationed around the perimeter of the protective dome over Cortex Castle. Crash held the missile firing button down, waiting for a lock on. As soon as he had it, he released the trigger and let them fly straight into the missile storage compartments with satisfactory and cinematic explosions. It seemed they were winning until several much more frightening looking Villain ships appeared above and started firing what looked like arcing Dark Eco bolts around. Crash turned the _Hellcat_ up to look at the vehicles and opened a volley of Yellow Eco blasts upon them. The explosion of one of these vehicles turned out to have a wide radius, taking out the two on either side of it. After seeing this, the pilots of the elite fighters spread out across the skies so as not to blow each other up when they went down. Jak could be seen firing missiles at two elites, with satisfyingly explosive results. Spyro and Cynder teamed up to take down some more elites, so that their numbers dwindled. So with some more Yellow Eco bolts, missiles, and magical attacks, all of the elites were defeated.

All of the blue and white fighters were now converging on the Villains' airship, lasers charged. A crackly transmission gave the order to fire and they did so without hesitation. However, the attacks simply bounced off in random directions, without even leaving a score upon the armored balloon. Jak had an idea.

"Keira, take the controls, I'm going in," he ordered. Keira looked at him as if he were crazy.

"What? By yourself?" she gasped. Jak smiled.

"You doubt me?" He pushed the button which transferred control to Keira's side of the _Hellcat_ and opened the cockpit. Keira reluctantly pulled the _Hellcat_ up to the side of the airship so that Jak could hop into the hangar, just as Crash's allowed him to jump out and Spyro landed upon the inside. Jak nodded, he hadn't expected the other two to let him go by himself so this was unsurprising.

"Come on, I know the way," Crash said casually as he slung his Bazooka off his back. Jak replicated Crash's movements but instead of a gun of staff as he was used to, the long blade of the Eco Sword slid out of his back holster. He had never fought with a bladed weapon, even back in Sandover Village he had always just used his fists or a club when hunting or anything of the sort, never a blade. So it seemed he would have to educate himself in the use of a sword. What looked like a man in a lab coat with thick lab goggles approaching seemed to be his chance. The thing moved too awkwardly to be an actual person, it must be a robot. Indeed, one swing of the blade revealed a torso full of circuits, hydraulic pumps, and gears rather than flesh and bone. Crash snorted and put away his Bazooka. He ran over to a group of Lab Assistants and simply spun into them, causing them to fly into the walls and crack. Spyro meanwhile, chose to favor his Electric powers and ensnared a chain of Lab Assistants in the charge. One by one, they exploded as their power reserves overflowed.

The three Heroes blew their way through the Lab Assistants through several rooms until they reached the power generator room. The large, glass cylinder crackled with Dark Energy flowing through its conduits, creating all the station's energy. Crash fired a Nitro at it with no effect, while Spyro's Earth Missile had a similar outcome. Jak ordered the other two aside, charged a large amount of Red Eco within the blade of his sword, and swung it at the glass. It broke into a thousand tiny fragments, allowing the Dark Energy to course through everything. Already, the sound of Dark Eco disintegrating objects could be heard. Jak lead the way out of the generator room, through the now empty halls and to their _Hellcats_ in the hangar. Just as the airship exploded in a mighty cinematic bang, the three Heroes sailed off into the sky.

_Author's Note: Reviews motivate me to write, just ask CadeXHybrid. _


	18. Old Friends

_Author's Note: Finally got a chapter out, it's short but it's a chapter. Reviews motivate me to write more, it should get more action-y next chapter. Geek out._

**Chapter 2:**

**Old Friends **

The two _Hellcat_ fighters flew into the opened hangar of the blue and white air submarine alongside the two dragons. Both cockpits opened to allow the non-winged members of the party to exit their vehicles into the hangar full of anthropomorphic Australian animals. While Crash, Coco, Crunch, and Aku-Aku were able to exchange a few words with friends, Jak and Keira were stared at suspiciously and Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, and Daxter were largely ignored. Of course, this did not settle too well with the latter two.

"Hey! Why are they ignoring us, we're the _real_ Heroes!" Daxter yelled angrily.

"Yeah," the dragonfly agreed, "those guys would be nothing without us!" Their outbursts were met with scornful glares from both parties, which succeeded in driving them down. A short man with a tall head and two bolts over his ears tottered forward and wordlessly urged the Heroes to follow him. Crash smiled at the humans and the dragons' unsure faces.

"Don't worry, Dr. N. Brio obviously has a plan," Crash assured and pushed the others towards the area N. Brio was leading them to.

They emerged in a small room with shelves full of beakers and a small table in the back for mixing. N. Brio turned to face them from behind the table and smiled, showing one overlarge incisor among his other teeth.

"C-C-Crash, C-Coco, I am glad to see you are b-back and with f-friends too," he stuttered, followed by a high pitched giggle. "I-it is unfortunate th-that many of the a-anthros are mistrusting o-of your human friends. Th-They have learned t-to trust me since I turned from C-Cortex b-but it seems that your f-friends are not trusted. A-as I understand, they d-do not have the t-time to gain their trust neither." Jak nodded in response.

"No, we have to find the Villains and beat them now!" he said. N. Brio nodded and pulled a pair of beakers full of purple liquid out of one of the shelves. He handed one to Jak and the other to Keira.

"If they w-will not t-trust a human, then p-perhaps the ruse of an anthro will h-help them accept you." Jak and Keira both swigged down their separate beakers and choked. Both started to grow fur as their ears shrank and moved further up on their heads while their noses pulled the rest of their faces forward. Jak was the first to stand up, receiving looks from everyone else who was standing up. Crash and Spyro looked at each other then burst out laughing, rolling on the ground with mirth. Jak looked at his hands to see them covered in orange fur then he looked at a conveniently placed mirror to see that he looked like a bandicoot. He glared in annoyance at Crash and Spyro then at Keira to see her starting to get up, also turned into a bandicoot, and then finally at Coco to see her staring dreamily.

"_Wow_ Jak, maybe you should stay this way," she sighed. Crash looked up from where he had been laughing to glare at Coco (with Keira joining him) while Spyro's laughing simply redoubled and Cynder, Sparx, and Daxter also started to chuckle. Jak sat down, only to jump up again as he felt something had emerged from the end of his spine.

"Ow, wait, do I have a tail?" he asked, feeling the unfamiliar lump in the seat of his pants.

"Let me check," the Ottsel offered with a chuckle. He leapt up, gripping the waist of Jak's pants and looked in. "Yep, but it's _really_ tiny." Crash and Daxter started laughing again while Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx's laughing redoubled. N. Brio sighed and snapped his fingers together to get everyone's attention.

"A-alright everyone, let's g-go, we do have a w-war going on here," he stuttered, annoyed. Crash and Coco immediately got serious while Crunch and Aku-Aku (who were always serious) looked at N. Brio. "O-our spy has b-been captured and we need s-someone to save them and you s-seem to be the best fitted f-for the job." Jak nodded and waved for everyone to follow before N. Brio coughed and shook his head. "Coco, I-I know how much you w-want to be involved b-but we need someone t-to help with r-running the ship. I-it is consequential in the V-Villains' defeat." He then turned to everyone else. "A-and if anyone else is c-competent with machines and c-can be spared, that would be appreciated." Keira stepped forward and stood by Coco, not letting her eyes leave the younger bandicoot's face as she looked at Jak.

"Th-thank you, it is appreciated. Does anyone else, for any reason wish to stay to protect the ship?" he asked of the remaining Heroes. Cynder and Crunch stepped forward despite Spyro and Crash's objections.

"I may be stealthy but you know I'm not quite as strong as you and I'm more vulnerable to darkness," she sighed.

"And I'm no good at stealth," Crunch added for his case. "Sorry." N. Brio smiled at them both.

"I-it takes a certain k-kind of strength to admit one's w-weaknesses," he said comfortingly. He then turned to the remaining Heroes: Crash, Aku-Aku, Jak, Daxter, Spyro, and Sparx. "I-I wish you all luck. P-please bring our s-spy back; we do not w-want to lose anybody." Jak nodded again and this time lead the remaining Heroes out to the hangar and into the _Hellcats_. Both fighters lifted off and flew out towards the castle, heading down for the base of the large dome.

_Author's Note: More action next chapter, so get ready and review. More old friends and enemies appear so review and you get it quicker. Geek out._


	19. New Friends

_Authors' Note: Well… I haven't been here for a long time. Anyway, I got a PS3 and Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time for Christmas and those have inspired me to work on this. As you may remember, Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper will be appearing in Trial of the Heroes II. So without further ado, I present chapter 3 of part III for Trial of the Heroes. Geek out._

**Chapter 3:**

**New Friends**

Both _Hellcat_ fighters landed near the base of the dome and the Heroes got out. They approached the base of the dome to try and look for some way through. As they walked forward, someone hissed at them to get their attention. Turning to the right, all three saw a shadowed form beckon to them. Crash edged forward nervously and found himself in the shade of a Wumpa tree next to a very familiar muscular, long snouted cat type creature.

"Crash Bandicoot?" it asked in a gruff voice.

"Uhh, yeah," Crash replied uncertainly. The glint of long teeth smiling made Crash shiver slightly.

"Crash no worry, Tiny Crash's friend now," it said with stereotypically stupid 3rd person dialogue.

"Tiny? You're on our side?" The large Tasmanian tiger walked into the light so that Spyro and the anthropomorphic Jak could see him.

"Tiny help Crash free spy, Tiny will open secret door," he assured. The large tiger grabbed what looked like a normal tree root, but as he pulled on it and the square patch of ground around it lifted up, it became evident that the root was actually a handle. Crash led the way down the hole into the ground and through a small, cramped tunnel. While this was no trouble for the quadrupedal Spyro or the small Crash, Jak's large form had a lot of trouble squeezing into the small space.

After about ten minutes of terrifying claustrophobia, the end of the tunnel came right up into a small square of flat grey bricks. Crash heaved this open, slid it to the side cautiously, and clambered out with Spyro and Jak close on his tail. Once Jak had slowly shifted the bricks back into place, they all proceeded cautiously down the hallway. The few Lab Assistants they saw, all of which were buffed up with some new technology, were easily dispatched with either a zap of Blue Eco or an Electric Bolt from Spyro. The biggest problems were when they encountered one of Cortex's anthro minions, or at least it was a problem at first. Jak soon found one use for the sword in stealth: the hilt could easily knock anthros out. This all took them up towards the high towers of the castle, though they had to go through many before finding the correct one. Once they found the correct one, it was easy finding the correct room for there was only one that had cells in it. It was even easier to find the correct cell for only one was occupied and the occupant was sobbing. Crash ran to the front of the occupied cage to see a female bandicoot that he had never seen before. Unlike Coco or Tawna, she had brown hair that was worn in a braid down to the small of her back and blue eyes rather than green. She was around Crash's age and height with similar fur color even but was (for obvious reasons) a lot more feminine looking. Her sobbing stopped as she looked up at Crash. He could now see that one of her bangs hung down so that it half covered her left eye.

"Are you… you're not…" she stammered. Crash smiled broadly.

"Crash Bandicoot: hero, rebel, and lady's man!" he said with a smile. The bandicoot girl giggled a little at Crash's display as said Hero attempted to take out the door. Jak and Spyro watched in amusement as Crash pulled and heaved at the door until Spyro turned to Jak.

"Aren't you gonna help him?" he asked. Jak chuckled again and walked up to the door.

"Need and help? Or are you still trying to impress the lady we still have to save?" he asked while chuckling. Crash gave one final heave, then toppled to the ground in exhaustion. Jak stepped up, concentrated a large amount of Red Eco in his arms, and wrenched the door straight out of the frame. As he leaned it up against the wall, the bandicoot girl ran up to Crash and kneeled down beside him.

"Are you alright?" she asked with worry. Crash opened his eyes a little wider and smiled once he saw how close she was to him.

"I am now," he smiled. Jak and Spyro both shook their heads while Sparx and Daxter (who were there all the time just so you know) both booed and said: "Get off the stage!" Aku-Aku (who has been here all the time as well) heaved Crash to his feet and made sure he was steady.

"Alright, now to get out of here," he said. The bandicoot girl stayed closely behind Crash, which the other two Heroes could tell he enjoyed. No girl (except Coco and a relationship of romantic nature with her would be creepy) had shown interest in him, with the exception of Tawna, and that was for a very limited time. So this new girl who identified herself as Kendra was something that Crash was not going to miss out on.

A few diversions later, all caused by the silent alarm that was triggered once Jak wrenched off the door to Kendra's cell, they found themselves on the outside of the castle walking along the descending platforms that were there just like on the original castle. Crash had reluctantly agreed that because of Kendra's jumping ability which was far short of the Heroes' she should ride on Jak's back. Thankfully, she showed little interest in him and kept looking back at Crash with a small smile. Eventually, they found themselves faced with a very large gap between ledges which Spyro flew over and Jak Rocket Jumped across. Neither Crash nor Spyro wanted Crash to ride Spyro as neither had enjoyed it; in Crash's case it had been quite painful.

"Crash!" Kendra called out. Crash looked to see her fumbling with something before tossing a Violet Gem at him. He caught it and it sparked to show the mask of Lo-Lo the Air Elemental.

"Well Crash, it seems you've come to me for a move, the final move of this adventure I might add," he said in a high voice. "This time I grant you the ability to fly like a helicopter with your spin attack, so go do it to rejoin your friends." The purple electricity flew into Crash and he stowed away the Clear Gem. He jumped and spun around to glide like a helicopter towards the others, which was met by an admiring sigh by Kendra.

"So it is true, you can use the power of the Elementals sealed inside these Gems to do amazing things." Crash smiled sheepishly.

"Well yeah, still nothing to those two, they can do things without rocks," he said. Kendra still smiled at him as they continued down the side of the castle to the ground.

"Now there's a problem," Daxter said in annoyance. "The door to outside this dome thingy IS ON THE INSIDE!" Someone made a "Psst" sound and they looked around to see Tiny holding open the entrance to another secret tunnel, this one thankfully much larger. The Heroes and Kendra all followed him out of the dome and to the _Hellcat_ fighters which they used to fly to the airship.

Meanwhile, in the secret meeting room of the Villains, things were going very badly.

"You nincompoop!" the dark mask shouted towards a cowering Neo Cortex. "We have the most powerful beings in the universe by our side AND WE'RE STILL LOSING! All because of your inadequate planning. You know that those _Heroes_ just got away with the girl? She had one of the Gems with her and you know that with each subsequent Gem, Crash _and_ that airship grow stronger!" Cortex leaned up against the wall.

"Mighty Uka-Uka, I have thought of this and that is why the girl is so dangerous to them," he whimpered. The mask backed off.

"Explain," he demanded. Cortex licked his lips nervously.

"I have implanted a chip into the girl's brain with which I can control her at any time. She has already had Crash Bandicoot fall for her which was her original purpose and with that fact, she could easily assassinate Crash _and_ the other Heroes quite easily." The mask grinned once he heard this.

"Well Cortex, it seems that you _have_ learned from past mistakes. Good work, universal domination may be ours yet."

_Author's Note: Reviews make the world go 'round… I think._


	20. Quest for Power

_Author's Note: I decided to churn out one last update before school restarts tomorrow. Oh well, reviews would be nice so please give them._

**Chapter 4:**

**Quest for Power**

Crash, Jak, and Spyro seated (or perched in Spyro's case) themselves upon mismatched chairs surrounding a circular table. Other's at the table were the rest of the Heroes' group along with N. Brio, Kendra (who was smiling at Crash in a way that made the bandicoot feel strangely happy), and surprisingly Nina Cortex. However, Crash could already tell that this Nina was not the chipper and almost too friendly girl that had helped him and Dr. Cortex defeat the Evil Twins. Nina was (as he had always known) the same age as Coco maturity wise but now she acted much more like that age. Upon questioning of the reason for her change of heart, she replied that her uncle had finally "gone off the deep end in his planning."

"I mean, Uncle Neo's _always_ been crazy, but that Erol is twice, no, _three_ times crazier than he is by far," Nina shrugged. Crash was simply glad that they had Nina on their side as he had noted that she was a big help in defeating the Evil Twins.

N. Brio called the meeting to order after a few minutes of it being not in order. Everyone turned their attention to him and once it was given to him, he then commanded it to be turned to Kendra. The bandicootess cleared her throat, gave Crash another smile, and began.

"I've found what everyone wanted me to," she announced to satisfied looks from N. Brio and Nina, "the records from Crash's evolution." Crash and Coco looked at each other confusedly as Kendra continued. "It shows that Crash was extremely sensitive to the energies given off the Cortex Vortex which caused a state of panic making it impossible for him to be controlled by that device. However, an unexpected side effect was Crash's ability to home in on the locations of Crystals. The only other person with this ability so far is Coco, seeing as they are related it seems to be a family trait."

"The point?" Coco sighed, already extremely tired from the fact that each sentence was punctuated by another smile, wink, and sometimes a giggle in her brother's direction. Kendra pouted at Coco before continuing.

"The point is that one of you can lead an expedition after the Gems while the other leads one after the Crystals," she said sourly. Brio smiled approvingly in Kendra's direction.

"E-excellent, now we can p-power this ship's l-laser _and_ make sure th-that Cortex can't p-power his. Now to s-split up the teams," he mused. Crash spoke up.

"I'll take Spyro, Sparx, Aku-Aku, Crunch, and Kendra." Kendra giggled at the mention of her name and gathered along with the others mentioned towards Crash. Meanwhile, Nina, Cynder, Jak, Daxter, and Keira closed in around Coco.

"We'll handle the Crystals, Crash," Coco promised. Crash nodded and smiled.

"Good, and Jak," he directed to the man (elf?) turned bandicoot, "you'd better look after her." Jak nodded a promise. Both teams walked out to the hanger to see the _Hellcat_s got a bit of a remodel. The back part was expanded to hold more people so that each group could fly together in one ship. Crash's group took his _Hellcat_ while Coco's took Jak's (with Jak piloting despite Coco's protests). Each _Hellcat_ lifted off and headed out in a different direction depending upon the navigator's direction. Crash piloted his _Hellcat_ west towards the middle island which some called Wumpa Island for the abundance of fruit trees in the island's forests. Meanwhile, Coco directed Jak south towards N. Sanity Island, her home island among the three.

With Crash's team, when they landed on a plateau of Wumpa Island they all leapt out and looked to Crash for direction. After focusing for a moment, a familiar tingling feeling began emitting from the area to his right. Crash opened his eyes and led the team in that direction, down a narrow path leading into a set of caves in the Cliffside. At the cave's mouth, everyone paused to peer inside the dark maw. Kendra latched her arms around Crash and peered around his shoulder.

"You don't think there's anything dangerous in there do you?" she inquired in a whisper.

"Oh it's guaranteed," Crash replied, "but don't worry, we got Spyro with us." Spyro smirked despite his increasing desire to bury his face in his claws from exasperation. Kendra beamed at Crash and kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on, let's go then!" As everyone else pressed forward, Crash just stood there with an even stupider grin than usual. Spyro looked back, this time giving in to his desire to face-palm, and backtracked so he could push Crash in front of him. As they walked forward, it steadily got darker until it was pitch black save for Sparx.

"I can't see a thing," Spyro growled in a worried voice.

"Hey, at least we haven't walked straight into the middle of an ambush!" Crash replied in a chipper voice. Suddenly, lights turned on all around them so that they could see several troops of yellow armored Elite Krimzon Guards. It was Crunch's turn to do a face-palm.

"You know Crash, sometimes I really, _really_ hate you."

Meanwhile, Coco's team had to take a longer route to get to N. Sanity Island due to an air patrol of several more powerful looking fighters than those previously encountered. Eventually they made it to a clearing on a cliff above the native village, or at least that's what Coco thought. Jak's eyes widened as he saw what was before him then turned back to warn Coco.

"Coco, you might not like this," he whispered.

"What is it Jak?" she asked as she clambered out of the _Hellcat_. She froze in place as she looked down at the area that used to carry the house she, Crash, and Crunch lived in. Instead of the tropical paradise that used to be there, it was a ruin with several troops of Elite Krimzon Guards patrolling. Coco sniffed a couple times then wrapped her arms around Cynder as the dragoness rubbed up against her. The sound of metal sliding made both look up at Jak.

"So they decided to ruin your home? Let's ruin their faces."

_Author's Note: Well, Crash is screwed and Jak's being a bad ass again. Can Crash get himself and the others out of this situation? Is Jak enough of a bad ass to save N. Sanity Island? Will more than one person review this story for once? Only time will tell, so how about a few reviews to pass the time? Geek out._


	21. Battles Battles Everywhere

_Author's Note: Here it is, the final chapter being uploaded to Game X-Over Fanfiction. After consulting with my friend CadeXHybrid I have decided to move this story to Jak and Daxter Fanfiction, maybe then I'll get some actual reviews. So when you see this story disappear, you'll know where it is. Geek out._

**Chapter 5:**

**Battles… Battles Everywhere**

Crash rolled behind a stalagmite to dodge several Eco bolts from one of the Elite KGs. He breathed heavily and rapidly as more Eco bolts pounded against the rocks, filling the air with dust. Everyone else made their way back behind other stalagmites while protecting themselves. Crash was relieved to see what he thought was everyone make their way to safety, but his false security was disintegrated by the sound of a scream from the other side of the stalagmite. He looked around it and saw that Kendra was backed up against the stalagmite by several of the Elite KGs. Crash started spinning insanely in place. Suddenly, what seemed to be white flame erupted from Crash as he rushed forward and knocked all of the Elite KGs straight through the rock blocking the cavern from the outside. Everyone stayed still, even Crash with his flaming arms until he noticed them and started running around in panic. Crunch peered through the holes created by the two soldiers being launched by Crash and whistled.

"Damn Crash, where'd you learn to do that?" he asked. However, the only answer he got was Crash screaming.

"EXTINGUISH MEEEEEEEEE!" Kendra grabbed Crash by the shoulder and felt the "flames" on his forearms.

"Crash… you aren't on fire see? I can touch them and not get burnt but when you touched those KGs they did get burnt." Her face was filled with wonder as she stroked his cheek. Crash's face became smug in spite of himself.

"Well," Spyro began to get everyone's focus back on important things, "if Crash isn't on fire then what is that?" Aku-Aku made a motion as though shaking his head to clear it and spoke.

"This is Crash's body reacting to the power of the Gem nearby," the mask explained. "As I'm sure you know by now, the Crystals are the concentrated form of Uka-Uka's power. The sheer amount of dark power that these Crystals contained would have destroyed the world had it not been for the fact that I too left parts of my own power on the earth in the form of the Clear Gems. When the Elementals had to be contained, the Colored Gems were taken from their power in order to make sure that these powerful forces were somewhat controlled." Crash opened his mouth then closed it several times like a fish as he tried to find what to say.

"So, if these Gems are _your_ power then how do they affect _me_?" he asked. Aku-Aku smiled and sighed.

"Crash, it seems that after all these years of me allowing you to use my power for protection and your constant exposure to the power of the Crystals and Gems has in turn given you the power to control their energies in the same way that Jak can control Eco and Spyro can control the Elements through Dragon Magic." Crash's mouth moved as though he were saying "Oh" but no sound came out. Spyro once again took charge.

"Well, let's get that Gem and get out of here so we can find the other Gems," he sighed.

"Right," Crash nodded. Crash felt for the Gem again and this time found the largest concentration of power in the rock he had been hiding behind. He rubbed his still flaming hands together and spun into the rock so that it crumbled. Right there where it had been was a white glowing Gem. Crash grabbed the Gem and stowed it away in the bag he had been given by Brio. "Right, let's go!" he called around cockily and strutted at the head of the procession out of the cave. As Spyro walked at the tail of the group, he turned to Sparx who had been strangely quiet during this entire time.

"I wonder how Cynder's doing in the other group?" Sparx shrugged and flew ahead, leaving Spyro to ponder this in his head by himself.

Meanwhile, with the dragoness that enveloped Spyro's current train of thought along with everyone else in her group was standing in some bushes near where some Elite KGs were overlooking someone operating a machine that was drilling in the rock. The anthro (a bandicoot in his mid-teens by the look) was nervously fiddling with the machine which had seemingly jammed. Coco was next to him, staring intently at the proceedings though Jak privately thought that her attention might be less given to the machine and more to the young bandicoot with clearly defined muscles attempting to operate it. However, when Daxter made some allusion to this, he found himself knocked face first into the dirt behind them as Coco returned her attention to the proceedings with a firmly fixed jaw.

Soon, the KGs started hitting the bandicoot to punish him for his incompetence and Jak was forced to throw his arm around Coco to stop her from rushing forward to the boy' rescue. He handed her to Keira so that she could keep an eye on her and proceeded forward slowly at a crouch. Jak focused his mind, though his hopes of achieving his goal were low, and was surprised as he felt a warm glow beginning to emit from his hand. He cupped his hands together to allow the Yellow Eco to charge and then threw them forward in a powerful blast that knocked several of the guards down. They all hid behind trees as fire rained down from the remaining guards until the yellow armored soldiers were satisfied that whatever threat there was had died. Jak crept back to his spot, but was distracted from a repeat as Coco tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Jak, when you do that again could you shout 'Kame-hame-ha!'?" she asked with a small giggle. Jak raised his eyebrows.

"Why?" he asked. Coco shrugged.

"Oh, no reason," she answered innocently. Jak shrugged, repeated the action of charging Yellow Eco in his cupped hands and released while shouting "Kame-hame-ha!" This time it knocked out several more of the guards but his shout had ensured that the others knew it was him. Admitted, it was only two of them so he could easily roll and dodge the bullets and take them out with a Red Eco charged punch to the face. Jak picked up one of the guns dropped by a KG and sniped all of the re-enforcements as they rounded the corners. Meanwhile, Coco kneeled down next to the bandicoot that was slowly clambering up.

"Are you alright," she said softly as she slowly helped him up. His eyes slowly rose up to look into hers and froze there. "Hi," Coco said with a breathy giggle. He returned the hello with an embarrassed smile. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe," she said and pulled him back towards the forests where Keira had some Green Eco readied for him. Once the bandicoot (who identified himself as Craig) was good under Keira's care, Coco approached the area where the machine was. Looking into the cogs, she saw a purple Power Crystal situated there. Apparently, Craig had unearthed the Crystal but did not want Cortex to have it so he hid it inside the machine's cogs. Taking one second to sigh about the young bandicoot's bravery and returned to the others so that they could return to the quest for the Crystals.

_Author's Note: How about some farewell reviews before I move to Jak and Daxter?_


	22. Fight for the Crystals

_Author's Note: Hellooooooooo Jak and Daxter Fanfiction! I recently decided to move this story from Game X-Over Fanfiction with the advice of CadeXHybrid (check out his story: BandiChron: Legends United in Crash Bandicoot Fanfiction, it's awesome) so this story can get more attention. So enjoy, Geek out._

**Chapter 6:**

**Fight for Crystals**

Through many dangerous quests, battles, shoot-offs, and escapades the Heroes were able to amass a collection of Crystals and Gems along with the help of their new allies Kendra and Craig. Although Jak and Spyro were wary of the newcomer to each of their groups, they still pressed on and fought side by side with them. Jak stopped listening to Coco's _Dragon Ball Z_ references eventually and enjoyed more missions without fights to the death. And among all of this, Crash steadily grew more and more in love with Kendra in spite of Spyro's warnings.

Both _Hellcats_ sailed towards some of the ruins on the middle island, their agreed meeting point. Jak's group came out first and approached the middle of the platform as Crash's group got out eventually and joined them.

"You got all the Gems?" Jak inquired to Crash as he displayed the bag full of Crystals to show his group's work was done.

"Yes I do," Crash grinned cockily and set his bag of Gems next to Jak's bag of Crystals. As their exchange was made, neither noticed Kendra's eyes go blank for a moment then back to normal as she shook her head. However, everyone noticed as a giant mech suit flew up next to the ruins and fired missiles at the group of Heroes. Everyone dodged out of the way in time and got out of the way for the three Heroes to fight; Crash's fists glowing with Gem power, Spyro's mouth full to the brim of Dragon Magic, and Jak's palms lit up with Yellow Eco. Crash started spinning and launched rapid fire white blasts at the mech's weapons. Jak followed after with several Yellow Eco blasts that burnt the newly exposed mechanics. Spyro finished off the mech with a large blast of Purple Energy, causing the mech to fly off in different parts. However, one of these parts, an especially large one, soared towards them while flipping rapidly. The thing rolled as it landed and bounded up as a smaller but tougher mech. It pounded towards the Gems and Crystals at an extreme speed until something caught it with a powerful blow. Jak charged more Red Eco in his sword and once again struck at the mech, only to be blocked. Several more of Jak's attacks were blocked until the mech got an opening and struck Jak so that he flew several feet. Blue Eco sped Jak back towards the mech and aided him as he leapt and performed a crushing overhead strike to the mech. The thing crashed to the ground, then looked forwards and reached to grab the two bags. Jak leapt up before it could do this and stabbed the Eco Sword through the mech's windshield. Apparently some important machinery had been critically damaged as the mechanics began to squeal weakly and flopped to the ground. A plump, ginger haired cyborg leapt out of the mech and dashed away as Jak gave pursuit. The man quickly hit something on his wrist so that he disappeared just as Jak attempted to tackle him.

"Damn it," Jak swore and pushed himself to his feet. Crash nodded and gave Jak a thumbs up while Spyro just smiled. The man sighed and pushed his sword into his sheath then approached them all. He heaved up the two bags and proceeded towards the _Hellcats_ until someone shouted: "Stop right there!" in a voice that sounded false. Turning around, Jak saw Kendra had pulled a very large laser gun out of somewhere and was now pointing it at the rest of the group save Crash and Spyro. Her eyes had gone blank but her commands were clear.

"Put the bags down and back away or else I will kill them all," she said emotionlessly. Jak grudgingly obliged once he had calculated that it would be impossible to stop her. She smiled falsely and ran to pick up the bags but was struck down before that could happen. The obviously controlled bandicootess turned over to see that Crash had her pinned down. He grabbed her head and shook it.

"Kendra, snap out of it, I know that Cortex is controlling you through some kind of chip," he said with surprising softness. She slapped Crash hard across the face so that he rolled off and grabbed the bags before running off. Crash stared after her desperately, wanting to stop her but not to hurt her. Aku-Aku flew towards him.

"Use the power of the Gems Crash, my power will not harm the pure!" he called. Crash threw a ball of white energy hesitantly and watched as Kendra fell down again. She got up again, this time facing him and took out her gun to shoot him. Crash dodged the laser blasts and returned fire with his fireballs. Kendra attempted to block with a shield built into her gun but was knocked down again as the shield proved insufficient. Crash took the opportunity to rush forward and pin her down yet again before she could get up. He focused hard and drove Gem Energy through her body. The bandicootess went rigid for a minute then flopped down unconscious, closing her eyes and curling up tight. Crash picked her up and held her in his arms as he walked forward. Jak stomped behind him and caught the bandicoot by the arm.

"How do you know it's safe?" he demanded. "What if she's still controlled?" Crash shrugged the man's furious expression away and continued towards the _Hellcats_.

"I've just got a feeling, you know?" He leaned Kendra up against the wing of his _Hellcat_ and proceeded to waft a half of a Wumpa fruit (after biting off the other half) under her nose. Kendra moaned and opened her eyes slowly. She smiled as she saw Crash looking over her and hugged him.

Kendra: "Crash, why does my head hurt?" she asked softly. "Did you take out whatever it is that Cortex must have put in there?" Crash nodded and smiled again to cheer her up despite her newly forming tears. "Crash I'm so sorry; I should have fought that thing's awful power and told you." She looked up and saw his irresistible smile and smiled back as it earned her to. "Just so you know Crash, I'm not a complete ditz like that control chip made me seem," she giggled. Crash helped her up.

"Hey, that's good. I like a girl with a good head on her shoulders, why else do you think I keep Coco around?" he laughed as Coco stuck her tongue out at him. Jak and Spyro seemed slightly satisfied that the threat was removed and allowed small smiles to cross their faces.

"Come on," Jak said eventually, "let's get back to the airship. I believe there's a shield we need to blow up." And just like that, everyone followed Jak towards the ships and through them towards Brio's airship.

_Author's Note: How about some welcoming reviews?_


	23. Castle Assault

_Author's Note: Here I am, presenting you to this epic chapter. After this chapter there will only be the final battle and the epilogue so enjoy as I conclude Trial of the Heroes._

**Chapter 7:**

**Castle Assault**

Both _Hellcat_ fighters landed in the airship as it continually circled Cortex Castle. Both bags of Gems and Crystals found their respective place, the Crystals in storage while the Gems were aligned in the power generator for the laser. As the airship was flown towards Cortex Castle, N. Brio gathered everyone into the main hangar.

"Everyone," the nervous doctor began, "even once the shield is brought down it will take all of our skills to bring down the Villains." Crash and Coco looked at each other in surprise for the fact that N. Brio did not stutter at all. "We may not succeed but that does not mean that we shouldn't try. It is up to us to fight for our freedom and the freedom of the universe! And because of that we absolutely cannot fail, so let us fight and try to win!" All the anthros looked at each other in confusion as to whether or not that was supposed to encourage them. Tiny started clapping unintelligently, then followed by many others until everyone was clapping and N. Brio bowed down in embarrassment.

"Let's do this thing!" Crash shouted energetically as he turned away from Kendra and walked towards the _Hellcats_.

Both _Hellcats_ and the two dragons flew down towards the battlefield. At the proper altitude, Crash and Jak dropped down from the ships (Jak having also dropped his guise as an anthro) along with the two dragons down towards the area in front of the giant dome. A large dome on the front of the airship opened up to reveal the laser dish as it began charging its blue laser. In the control room, N. Brio rolled up his sleeve and slammed his fist onto the activation button. The giant laser erupted out of the end of the ship and began chiseling away at the shield. The green dome waved hypnotically before electricity started arcing everywhere and suddenly… BOOM! The shield generator in the lower levels of the castle exploded in a great fireball as the force on the shield became too much. Jak drew the Eco Sword as an army of beefed up Lab Assistants and Elite Krimzon Guards erupted from the castle towards the Heroes and a force of anthros with various weapons. Red Eco charged in the weapon, making it glow brighter and brighter red until it began resembling a sith lightsaber. Jak ran, leapt high, and swung the Eco Sword down as he fell so that a gigantic red shockwave flew towards the large attacking force. Those unfortunate enough to be in the direct path were completely obliterated while their comrades were simply blown back several feet. One of the beefed up Lab Assistants (which was now several feet taller and wider than everyone else) ran up to Jak. Two flaming Wumpa fruit sailed into its side so that its attention was drawn away long enough for Jak to slice it in half with a spin attack.

"Thanks," he grinned to Crash and ran towards another group of enemies. Crash grinned back, switched to Nitro Crates, and began firing at the approaching groups of Elite KGs.

The two dragons were also holding their own very well. Cynder would pick several groups of enemies in a cyclone so that Spyro could fry them with a great cloud of fire. Electricity and Dark Fire arced through groups of Lab Assistants, big and small, frying them both inside and out. KGs were faced with the sting of Poison, the chill of Fear and Ice, and the deadly pounding of Earth. Not to mention, many of all types of enemies felt the score of dragon teeth and claws in their flesh.

Even in the skies, all seemed good. Coco and Keira's able hands behind the controls of both _Hellcats_ rained fire on various Villain fighters, bombers, and drop ships which would otherwise be dealing massive blows to the fighters on the ground. Some familiar faces greeted Coco from behind the windshield of their fighters: Dingodile, Ripper Roo, both Komodo Brothers, and Pinstripe Potoroo among others. However, known or not, all met the same barrage of Yellow Eco bolts that would send them flying to bits and scorched.

All seemed too easily tipped in the Heroes' favor, but usually whenever something seems too easy the other side probably hasn't thrown all they've got at you yet. This was proven all too true as something roared to life from behind the castle. It was another giant mech but this time bigger and with Dark Eco Crystals crackling on the sides. It trained one arm on the airship and fired so that a giant explosion erupted through the corridors.

"Kendra!" Crash shouted as his mind immediately conjured the picture of her being engulfed by flames. A communicator crackled for a moment before his sister's voice came through.

"Don't worry Crash, I'll get her!" she promised. The green _Hellcat_ did a U-turn towards the airship and quickly entered the hangar door. Coco leapt out of the _Hellcat_ and ran through the hallways towards the control room. Various other anthros were buffeting past her going the other way towards their ships in fear. She eventually entered the control room and was Kendra with soot and blood covering her hair and fur trying to lift and unconscious Dr. Brio. Coco helped her to lift the ex-evil scientist and carry him through the hallways. Various other explosions erupted through the ship as they eventually made their way towards the _Hellcat_ in the hangar. Dr. N. Brio was shoved gently into the back of the ship and Coco and Kendra leapt into the seats at the front. The _Hellcat_ slowly started forward as the greatest explosion of all tore through the airship and propelled the ship forward at an alarming speed. It flipped around while falling at an alarming rate towards the battlefield below. Just as it seemed that they would crash, a grappling hook grabbed onto Coco's shirt and pulled her, Kendra who was holding onto her tightly, and N. Brio whom Coco just barely managed to grab out of the ship and into the air. Looking up, they were relieved to see that the tether extended from the back of Jak's blue and yellow _Hellcat_ with Samos behind the controls of the grapple.

"Great shot Daddy!" Keira cheered as her father grinned back.

"I've still got it."

Meanwhile, down on the ground, the Heroes were slowly and laboriously making their way towards the mech. It towered high above the castle and shot its deadly Dark Eco bolts around the battlefield. Cynder doubled back to help Coco, Kendra, and the unconscious doctor get to a safer area so that the Heroes were left alone as they began to climb the large mech. Different machinery made up useful platforms for them to jump onto and when there were none, destroying a nearby Dark Eco Crystal would make parts of the armor fall off and reveal more. But as the Heroes were slowly going up the legs of the machine, a new threat came to the fighters in the form of Dark beasts that served Malefor. These creatures were fast and hard to hit and dealt much damage to the fighting force. Samos pulled out a communicator and grinned.

"Time to call for backup!" he shouted, followed by: "Ashelin, Torn, Hunter, NOW!" Portals appeared behind the ranks of the heroic fighters and from these portals erupted blue clad New Krimzon Guards, Kras City mobsters, and a fierce mixture of anthro cheetah warriors, the Guardians, and even Ignitus the Chronicler himself. The tide tipped once more in the Heroes' favor but with less of a dramatic incline as Malefor's forces still proved extremely powerful.

The Heroes finally made their way up to the head of the mech and blasted through a door into the head and control room. Erol and Cortex turned around to see the three Heroes facing them, all battle ready. Erol was wearing a new set of powerful looking black armor with Dark Eco blades arranged like claws.

"So, time for the final confrontation already?" he asked, crouching into a battle position. Shields went up around Cortex to protect him while he piloted the mech.

"You're all going to pay for what you've done!" Jak swore. Erol laughed back.

"What a 'Hero' thing to say. Personally I don't care if we take over the Universe or not. I've said it before Eco Freak, I don't want to win_ I want you_!" And with that, Erol charged forward and slammed Jak into the wall. Jak dodged his head to the side to avoid it being punctured by Erol's "claws". Crash spun his fists into Erol's side and sent the man into the other side of the room. Erol kneeled on one knee and conjured a shield so that Spyro's attack would bounce off. A quick dash was then launched at the Heroes but stopped as Spyro used Dragon Time to slow Erol down and nailed him in the stomach with a Fire Dash. The Villain rolled to a stop, stood up and switched to a sort of gun on his wrists. Spyro and Crash distracted him with dodging and taunts as Jak dashed forward and nailed Erol with a hit from the sword and Red Eco. The armor shattered and Erol slumped to the ground in seeming defeat.

"Cortex, now!" Erol shouted, followed by an evil grin in the Heroes' direction. Without warning, the head rocketed straight off of the mech and high up into the atmosphere where it passed through a portal into the dark swirling world of Convexity. The sides of the head opened up and allowed the two Villains to jump out into two smaller mech suits side by side with Malefor himself.

"_**Welcome Heroes, welcome to your doom**_!"

_Author's Note: Tune in next… sometime for the epic finale to Trial of the Heroes!_


	24. Trial of the Heroes

_Author's Note: The epic finale is here! So let us read it and leave wonderful reviews! Geek out._

**Chapter 8:**

**Trial of the Heroes**

Malefor erupted a gigantic wave of Dark Energy towards the Heroes that forced all three to duck down. The darkness inside began crackling them but they had to hold it off for Malefor could not be hurt by Darkness. All three pressed for the opposite effect of their lighter side and succeeded with three bright white flashes which drove the three Villains back. Crash had his white glowing hands, Spyro was surrounded by an aura of violet energy, and Jak had turned into the angelic Light Jak. All three started blasting Light Energy towards the Villains as Dark Energy was thrown in return. Malefor growled and ducked down, leaving only Erol and Cortex. Cortex turned around in panic at this and was hit with a powerful burst of white light from Crash. Erol was slightly more successful at blocking Jak and Spyro's attacks and sometimes repelling them back. Cortex began firing at random towards Crash, which made Crash duck and hide for a time until he could find a pattern. It continued with an exchange of Light and Dark Energies, sometimes with the bolts colliding explosively. Suddenly, beams lurched towards the Heroes so that they ducked to avoid the powerful Darkness. The source was identified as one long concentrated beam erupted from Malefor's mouth and seared a hole in the platform the Heroes were standing on. Jak charged Light Eco into the Eco Sword and shot a retaliatory beam of Light Energy at Malefor. The scorch of Light forced Malefor back for a time before he attacked again and two beams, one of Dark and one of Light, collided. The high amount of power caused the Dark/Light Reaction caused waves of radiation to fill Convexity as the ball of grey light wavered in the middle of the two beams. Crash got an idea, conjured his own beam of Light, and joined it with Jak's so that the balance started to deteriorate and Malefor was put in danger. Cortex tried to restore balance, followed by Spyro and Erol trying to push the highly reactive grey energy towards the other party.

The fluctuating energy was held in equilibrium for what seemed like hours with the ball growing brighter and brighter as time went by. Electricity began arcing off of the ball to the point that a large cloud of electricity surrounded the ball. Only Malefor knew what this meant and he quickly pulled the other two Villains with him as he retreated from the imminent explosion. The grey light obliterated near everything in its path so that the Heroes were left floating in a now collapsing Convexity.

"_**Now I destroy you!**_" the Dark Master shouted and unleashed another wave of Dark Energy. This time, the Heroes were too weak to resist and became their Dark selves. "_**There is no way you can defeat me with my own power!**_" Malefor gloated and laughed evilly. Dark Jak clung to the last remnants of his normal self's logic. Malefor was so full of Darkness it seemed that no Light could penetrate it. He then remembered Samos talking back in the Red Eco Sage's hut in the past: _"Impossible! No one can control Dark Eco!"_ However it seemed that Samos was wrong… partly. A new light shone through Dark Jak's consciousness. He knew there were some that could control Dark Eco to some extent, but too much and they were done for. With this new idea in his mind, Jak unleashed a ray of Dark Energy into Malefor. The Dark Master only laughed but Jak kept his resolve, even if he had to pour every last bit of his energy into destroying Malefor he would. Another Dark beam flew into Malefor from the side. Jak and Spyro made eye contact, and Jak now knew that Spyro understood what was happening. Crash showed that he too had shared this idea as a third blast of Darkness entered Malefor.

It seemed like hours before Malefor's laughing stopped and he grunted. Dark Electricity raced across the Dark Master's scales and made their way to his eyes. Malefor roared in pain as the Dark Energy started glowing around him in its enormity.

"_**No, this cannot be! I am ultimate master of Darkness, it cannot destroy me!**_" Despite Malefor's shouts that this would not work against him, it showed all too well that the power was becoming too much for him. Erol and Cortex bolted out of the portal into the normal world out of fear of also being obliterated. "_**Cowards! Bloody cowards come back and destroy them!"**_ Malefor roared as the Darkness tore apart the very molecules of his being and erupted throughout Convexity so that both he and his former prison were destroyed forever.

The fighters on the Wumpa Islands saw as the portal to Convexity began to disintegrate and finally exploded in a flash of Darkness. Malefor's minions suddenly froze and collapsed as their master met his end, leaving the Elite KGs with no choice but to surrender to the considerable force of the Heroes' supporters. But among all of this joy, a select few looked up at where the portal had been with tears. Samos patted Keira softly, Craig rushed from the fighters to embrace Coco, Cynder pressed her head into Coco's calves, and Daxter and Sparx unashamedly embraced each other with tears erupting from their eyes.

"Oh, Sparky Boy!" Daxter sobbed before nearly drowning the dragonfly with tears. From behind, they all heard three snickers, and they turned to see three extremely scorched but perfectly fine and alive Heroes.

"Aww, Daxter, I didn't know you cared," Jak teased before he, Crash, and Spyro were tackled by Keira, Kendra, and Cynder respectively.

"But, but how?" Kendra asked once she had stopped kissing Crash all around the head and neck.

"Kendra, come on, we're the good guys, nothing happens to us!" Crash chuckled. Kendra allowed a strangled giggle and buried herself in his chest. Crash tolerated it for a few minutes then called out: "Okay we just saved all you guys, now who's gonna save us?" Laughter erupted from all around as the celebration began and once the laughter stopped, Crash could be heard. "I'm serious, someone get her off me."


	25. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

The Wumpa Islands were once again peaceful, actually more so this time. Cortex and Erol had been easily found and captured and Malefor was no more, so there was little chance of a recreation of the Villains. Crash's front yard was prepared with a picnic table and several different types of food for the reuniting of the Heroes. Kendra, though she desperately wanted to help was forced to sit down due to the rather large obstacle in her way. Coco stopped for a moment to smile at her sister-in-law with pity at the large belly that made life a lot harder for her.

"Oh come on Kendra, just three more months," Coco said. Kendra sighed.

"Yeah, and its three months too long," she sighed in reply. Crash walked over to where she was and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hey Sheila," he grinned.

"Hey Daddy," she smiled back. Crash smiled again and went back to work.

Before long, the other Heroes arrived via the Warp Room in the basement of the house that Coco had built so long ago. Jak and Keira excitedly showed the others their new wedding bands as Spyro and Cynder simply said that they were trying to make an egg. Very little was said about the time of their adventure though it was often on their mind. It wasn't until Crash spoke that anything serious transpired.

"Hey guys, remember when we were rescuing Kendra and Lo-Lo said that his was the last power I would get for _that_ adventure? Well, that hints that we're gonna have another one." Jak and Spyro looked at each other in concern before Aku-Aku swept in to dissolve the serious mood.

"Whatever will come in the future will come, but now we should focus on the joy of the fact that we have temporary peace for that is the only peace that exists. And I have the feeling that when you do have another adventure, you may not be alone." Crash, Jak, and Spyro looked at Aku-Aku curiously but he refused to say any more and simply told them to enjoy their day. Eventually, this small amount of tenseness dissolved into excited talking about the future in a brighter light, whatever it may hold.

_Author's Note: And that is that. I won't be returning for awhile as I have a story I promised to do for Sly Cooper Fanfiction to get to so you guys will see me eventually. Look out for Trial of the Heroes II: Trial and Error, it'll be right here in Jak and Daxter Fanfiction. For now at least, Geek out._


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